Abstract
IntroductionStudents in Undergraduate Medical Education (UGME/UME) programs face a variety of stressors that can affect well-being. To address this, the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) mandates that medical schools offer support and programming that promotes student well-being. Academic librarians are accustomed to providing outreach that meets their faculties’ needs. Therefore, the goal of this study was to explore if Canadian undergraduate medical education librarians are supporting medical student wellness at their medical schools, and how.MethodsA bilingual, electronic survey containing multiple choice and open-ended questions was distributed across two Canadian health sciences library listservs during the summer of 2020. Librarians supporting UGME/UME programs now or within the last three years were invited to participate.Results22 Responses were received, and 17 complete datasets were included in the final results. The majority of respondents have encountered a medical student in distress (n=10) and have adjusted their teaching style or materials to help reduce stress in medical students (n=9). Other initiatives such as resource purchasing, wellness-themed displays, planning wellness-themed events and spaces, and partnerships on campus in support of medical student wellness were less common.DiscussionThe data in this study provides evidence that Canadian undergraduate medical education librarians are mindful of medical student well-being, and are taking steps to provide relevant support to this learner group. Librarians could adopt similar initiatives at their libraries to show support for learner wellness, and enhance their programs’ accreditation efforts in this area.
Highlights
Students in Undergraduate Medical Education (UGME/UME) programs face a variety of stressors that can affect well-being
The Canadian literature highlights the severity of medical student stress across provinces, as Maser et al noted in their recent paper from 2019 that medical students across Canada had “significantly higher rates of psychological distress, suicidal ideation, and mood and anxiety disorders” when compared with postsecondary graduates from the general population [1]
The authors state that medical schools should “act as key partners in supporting student well-being by promoting self-care...and developing programs to support at-risk students” [3]
Summary
Students in Undergraduate Medical Education (UGME/UME) programs face a variety of stressors that can affect well-being. The goal of this study was to explore if Canadian undergraduate medical education librarians are supporting medical student wellness at their medical schools, and how. The majority of respondents have encountered a medical student in distress (n=10) and have adjusted their teaching style or materials to help reduce stress in medical students (n=9). Other initiatives such as resource purchasing, wellness-themed displays, planning wellness-themed events and spaces, and partnerships on campus in support of medical student wellness were less common. Discussion: The data in this study provides evidence that Canadian undergraduate medical education librarians are mindful of medical student well-being, and are taking steps to provide relevant support to this learner group. The authors state that medical schools should “act as key partners in supporting student well-being by promoting self-care...and developing programs to support at-risk students” [3]
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