Trainee doctors are being put off becoming psychiatrists because medical school teachers tell them the field is “not prestigious”, health leaders have said.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) is calling for the number of medical school places to be doubled to prevent the profession “imploding”, due in part to stigma among students.

The body says the move would create an extra 4,497 consultant psychiatrists within ten years.

Currently, just 5.6 per cent of junior doctors opt for a career in mental health, leaving the workforce understaffed and “over-reliant” on foreign medics.

RCPsych last night said the situation is exacerbated by a tendency among some medical school lecturers to talk down the speciality.

Dr Kate Lovett, Dean of the college, cited examples of students sniggering at the back of classes on depression because “they think it’s soft”.