SCOTLAND faces a shortage of psychiatrists after a struggle to fill training jobs that left more than two-thirds of posts empty.
In the worst recruitment round in recent history, just 12 out of 37 jobs for senior doctors specialising in adult psychiatry were filled.
Most higher-level training positions for child and adolescent psychiatry and old-age psychiatry were also left vacant and no-one was recruited to any of the eight slots caring for people with learning disabilities.
Dr Alastair Cook, chairman of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, said the situation was "very disappointing" and was not just affecting mental health services.
He said NHS Education for Scotland, which runs the national recruitment programme, was looking a taking a more strategic approach to recruiting and retaining trainees in Scotland.
Hospital doctors training to become consultants in a range of fields are leaving for other parts of the UK, Australia and New Zealand, he explained.
Dr Cook said: "There is definitely an issue. We see people leaving Scotland at every stage through the training process but we do not see them return."
Shortages in acute and emergency medicine and anaesthesia were highlighted in The Herald as part of the newspaper's NHS Time for Action series examining hospital capacity issues.
The problem is a lack of middle-grade doctors - working medics who have started to specialise and need to complete the last years in their chosen field before becoming consultants. They are crucial to the running of NHS services. In psychiatry, for example, they help run outpatient clinics and can be the first point of contact on call at night.
In the most recent national recruitment round, for jobs due to start in August, 21 people applied for 37 adult psychiatry posts and some accepted other positions.
Three out of eight of the higher speciality training places in child and adolescent psychiatry were filled and three out of eight posts in old-age psychiatry.
A second recruitment process has been planned for the autumn in a bid to plug the gaps.
Dr Cook said: "There's undoubtedly a degree of stigma within the medical profession that says mental health is less scientific than other specialities. There is also a perception that people who have mental health problems do not get better, therefore it is not a satisfying area."
Billy Watson, chief executive officer of the Scottish Association for Mental Health, said: "It is concerning to learn that a number of positions have not yet been filled and we would hope more doctors consider this area of medicine as a career option in the future."
Health Secretary Alex Neil said: "Any funding for vacant training grade posts will be passed back to NHS boards for recruitment at local level, or investment in alternative options to provide services which could include hiring medical locums, expansion of other medical grades such as speciality doctors, expansion of advanced (nurse) practice roles, or reorganising existing staff."
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