Abstract
BackgroundThe support of student wellbeing features highly in all higher education institutional agendas. For medical students good physical and mental health can help prevent burnout, equip students for their future healthcare setting and indirectly improve patient care. At the University of Nottingham (UK), we were keen to explore undergraduate medical students perceived wellbeing before, during, and after an early years’ (years 1-3) curriculum change. A restructure of the curriculum enabled personal wellbeing sessions to be embedded and directly linked to the pastoral support system.MethodsStudents’ perceived wellbeing was assessed through a questionnaire distributed to three cohorts of first year students at the start and end of the autumn semester.ResultsThe data showed a clear improvement of perceived physical health at the end of the first semester following the curriculum change, alongside increased mood and ability to relax. A surprising outcome of this study was that students reported increased stress levels at the end of the semester, which we believe may be attributed to the change in assessment within the new curriculum. Our medical students are now facing end of year summative examinations, but are acutely aware of their progress as they undertake frequent formative assessments during the year. We propose that comparison of performance with peers is having a direct impact on perceived stress in these cohorts.ConclusionsThe study has shown that embedding wellbeing in the curriculum can have positive effects even within a changing curriculum. The importance of evolving wellbeing provision and support based on the needs of the student population is essential and probably never more in need than at this moment in time.
Highlights
The support of student wellbeing features highly in all higher education institutional agendas
T2 time points did display decreased responses compared to the 2017/18 cohort (T1)
Positive cohort observations/trends in the new curriculum All first-year medical students were asked a series of questions related to their lifestyle choices and physical health
Summary
First year UoN undergraduate medical students’ perception of their own wellbeing was assessed in three separate cohorts enrolled on the medicine course before (2015/16), during (2017/18) and after (2019/20) a curriculum change. There was a distinct decrease in students’ perception of their own physical health at the end of the autumn semester on the old curriculum (1.91 to 9.73%; 4/ 209 to 11/113 aggregate for ‘very poor’ & ‘poor’ responses, Fig. 1a) This was in conjunction with a reduction in frequency of exercise Following the introduction to the new curriculum, students reported being less able to manage stress at the end of the semester (with aggregate negative responses of ‘very poor’ and ‘poor’ increasing from 6.50 to 13.53%, 16/246 to 18/133, aggregate in 2017) or similar levels of inability in 2019: 13.06 to 12.09%, 32/245 to 22/182 in 2019) Their ability to keep this stress in perspective decreased or remained determinedly negative (2017: 9.35 to 10.53%, 23/246 to 14/ 133; and 2019: 15.10 to 17.58%, 37/245 to 32/182). All student cohorts included in this study reported a comparable
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