Abstract
Abstract: Introduction: The presence of chronic stress, caused by the activities and demands of the medical course, can lead to what is called ‘burnout’, a syndrome characterized by three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, dehumanization (or depersonalization) and reduced professional achievement. Considering the increased incidence of burnout syndrome, anxiety and depression symptoms, suicide attempts and suicide rates among medical students, as a consequence of increasing demands for professional and financial success at the expense of physical and mental health, one understands the importance of studying the subject and proposing measures of prevention and control. The aim of this study was to evaluate and describe the levels of burnout and well-being of medical students at a Brazilian public university. Method: The stress and well-being levels of students from the first to the sixth year for the Medical Course at Universidade Federal de São Paulo were evaluated using MBI-SS and WHOQOL-BREF questionnaires, applied online on the REDCAP platform. Results: A total of 302 students completed the questionnaires. Regarding the MBI-SS, students showed a low value in the emotional exhaustion factor and high levels of professional disbelief and effectiveness, indicating a burnout that ranged from low to moderate. It was also observed that female students showed a greater tendency toward emotional exhaustion when compared to male ones, as well as the fact that students from the 1st and 2nd years showed higher values of professional effectiveness when compared with 3rd and 4th years, with no difference between genders. Based on the answers from WHOQUOL-BREF questionnaire, the students thought they had a good quality of life. Discussion: These results reinforce possible factors that might interfere with the students’ quality of life: excessive workload, teaching model based on extensive lectures, lack of stimulation, recognition for their efforts. Conclusion: The medical students evaluated in this study have a good quality of life and show low or moderate burnout levels.
Highlights
The presence of chronic stress, caused by the activities and demands of the medical course, can lead to what is called ‘burnout’, a syndrome characterized by three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, dehumanization and reduced professional achievement
The Malasch Burnout Inventory – Students Survey (MBI-SS) and WHOQOL-BREF questionnaires were applied, in addition to a sociodemographic questionnaire consisting of the following data: gender, age, marital status, type of school, housing, medical school financing
Of the 720 students who were invited to answer the questionnaires, a total of 302 complete responses were obtained for the MBI-SS and WHOQOL-BREF (n = 302)
Summary
The presence of chronic stress, caused by the activities and demands of the medical course, can lead to what is called ‘burnout’, a syndrome characterized by three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, dehumanization (or depersonalization) and reduced professional achievement. The presence of chronic stress, caused by the activities and demands of the course, can lead to ‘burnout’, a syndrome characterized by three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, dehumanization (or depersonalization) and reduced professional achievement. Emotional exhaustion is characterized by mental and physical exhaustion and a feeling of incapacity, which can lead to symptoms of anxiety and depression This condition has as consequence (and as cause) the dehumanization, which would be a state where the individual becomes indifferent, impersonal, ironic and cynical towards other people, as a form of social distancing and in an attempt to minimize exhaustion. The activities performed by the individual lose their meaning and they have a feeling of failure and dissatisfaction[2,3]
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