Cognitive Enhancement Drug Use Among Medical Students and Concerns About Medical Student Well-Being

Abstract

and personal development, as well as for the patients for whom they will care throughout their careers. Our society invests a great deal in medical education, and it demands much from students in return. Medical educators remain concerned about both external and internal forces that affect students’ learning and development in ways that we are just beginning to understand. We wonder whether the country will have the physician work force it needs as students face ever increasing debt burdens, and we struggle to understand the effects that debt has on career choices. 1 Once students enter medical school, we become concerned about the pressures that they face and the impact of these pressures on their mental health and on their ability to function optimally. Surveys of medical students have shown high levels of depression, anxiety and substance abuse. 2 Recent studies have demonstrated high rates of burnout and the negative effects of burnout on students’ professionalism and altruism. 3 Much attention has been focused on the mistreatment of medical students by individuals engaged in their training and by others during the learning process, as studies have shown that mistreatment can lead to deleterious consequences that include depression, substance abuse and leaving medicine entirely. 4