Abstract
BackgroundA broad range of studies show that medical students often have a significantly deteriorated mental health status. Although starting medical school with values comparable to the population average, only a few semesters later, medical undergraduates show increased rates of psychological risk states and some manifest mental illnesses, such as burnout and depression. In our survey we intentionally assessed mental health parameters from a salutogenetic, i.e. resource-oriented point of view.MethodsWe examined first-year medical students in a cross-sectional study and assessed sense of coherence (SOC) and resilience as parameters from the salutogenesis model by Antonovsky in a structured way using validated, self-administered questionnaires. In total, we examined 236 students of human medicine, dentistry and molecular medicine at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU).ResultsOur analyses showed significantly higher values of resilience among male students compared to female students (p < 0.01). In contrast, even though a significant correlation between resilience and SOC was observed, only a non-significantly lower value of SOC was found in female students. Compared to the reference sample our medical students in their first year of study showed significantly lower values for resilience (p < 0.01) and SOC (p < 0.01).ConclusionResilience and SOC are known to correlate with psychological stress (burnout parameters) and depression. In order to keep protective factors like SOC and resilience in medical students at a good and healthy level we see the necessity to address that problem proactively and educationally. Integrating training focused on the preservation of the students´ own mental health into the medical curriculum from the beginning of university courses, and throughout the whole medical study course, is essential and should be an obligatory training goal. Based on our study results, we also deem it necessary to think about ways to adapt the measures for the gender-specific needs of our students, e.g. dependent on their biological gender.
Highlights
A broad range of studies show that medical students often have a significantly deteriorated mental health status
The comparison between our medical students and the reference sample by means of a t-test showed that the medical students have significantly lower average resilience scores (difference = − 2.44, CI(0.95) = [− 3.96; − 0.92]; p < 0.01)
In contrast to most studies on medical students which focus on symptoms such as suicidal tendencies or disorders like depression, we examined our collective of future physicians for parameters of mental health using a salutogenetic approach
Summary
A broad range of studies show that medical students often have a significantly deteriorated mental health status. Many studies [5,6,7] have successfully demonstrated that undergraduate physicians already show a very high frequency of risk factors for mental health problems [1, 8, 9] such as burnout, and some manifest mental disorders [10,11,12,13,14,15,16] This is noteworthy, as the future physicians seem to begin their studies with increased levels of disorders such as depression and anxiety disorders compared to the general population [1, 17,18,19]. Extracurricular programs on the improvement of mental health [20,21,22,23,24,25] and student interest groups, like the Lachschaft, an initiative by medical students in Erlangen for the promotion of mental health, have been established
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