Background: Imposter syndrome is a psychological condition in which a person's fails to acknowledge and recognize their achievements regardless of having proof for fear they might come across as a fraud. Objectives: To find out the rate of imposter syndrome and its relation to grade and gender among medical students. Subjects and Method: A cross-sectional study conducted between December 2023 and February 2024, among a convenient sample of students from college of medicine, Al –Mustansiriyah University. Data was collected via self – administrated questionnaire based on Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale (CIPS) to determine the prevalence of imposter syndrome. Results: Five hundred and fifty-three students enrolled in this study. According to Clance IP scale, 281(50.8%) of the study group were designated as moderate Imposter characteristics. The results showed that moderate Imposter characteristics was observed among 109 (46.58%) of male students and 172 (53.92%) of female students. Moreover, intense IP experiences was noticed more among male students (6.41%) in comparison to (4.39%) of female students. The results demonstrated that moderate Imposter characteristics was a shared complained among the four grades students enrolled in the study, as (47%,51.56%,53.41%& 51.85%) of the 2nd ,3rd ,4th and 5th students respectively. Furthermore, 5th grade students reported the highest rate (8.64%) of intense IP experiences in comparison to other grades. Conclusion: The imposter phenomenon exists in a meaningfully high rate among medical students. Both genders are at equivalent risk of having an imposter phenomenon. Medical college administrations need to implemented some interventions that can address this problem and improve the wellness of medical students.
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