Abstract
BackgroundThe stress associated with the physician’s work is generally acknowledged and is related to well-being and life satisfaction. The presented study was designed to extract the role of coping strategies in identifying differentiated styles of success in a medical career during medical education.MethodsThe participants were examined when they applied to medical school and each subsequent academic year. The final study took place four years after graduation. The baseline questionnaire measured coping strategies. The follow-up questionnaire consisted of measures of: quality of life, work stress and burnout, satisfaction with medicine as a career, and professional competency.ResultsBased on coping strategies assessed during admission and preclinical years of medical study, some aspects of success in the participants’ future medical career can be predicted. Students who take action and deal directly with a problem, neither accept resignation, nor reduce tension by expressing feelings would most probably resist future burnout. However, despite the fact that they obtain the highest quality of life or earn the highest income they would be, at the same time, the least satisfied with chosen career, as well as being more likely to be characterised by a low level of competence.ConclusionsAssessment of coping strategies at the beginning of medical education could be taken into consideration as an instrument to diagnose a specific trend in physicians’ career development.
Highlights
The stress associated with the physician’s work is generally acknowledged and is related to well-being and life satisfaction
The response rates are presented in Table 2: Measures Independent variables The coping strategies at admission and during medical study were measured by Coping Responses Inventory (Moos)
The second four subscales assess avoidance coping responses: ‘Cognitive Avoidance’, ‘Acceptance or Resignation’, ‘Seeking Alternative Rewards’, and ‘Emotional Discharge’ [28,29,30]
Summary
The stress associated with the physician’s work is generally acknowledged and is related to well-being and life satisfaction. Physicians have an increased prevalence of certain mental health problems as compared to the general population [1,2,3,4]. During their education they suffer from excessive levels of stress, and distressful occurrences are mostly related to the medical training, rather than to individual psychological qualities [5,6,7,8]. The longitudinal study ‘Social Diagnosis’, which presents information about quality of life of Polish doctors, was an inspiration in developing our model of success in the medical career [19]. The results of this study characterise life satisfaction and well-being in Polish physicians, comparing them to other professions [19]
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