Medical Student Distress Research Articles

Quality of Life of Medical Students in Different Stages – A Multi Center Study

Background and Prupose: The goal of medical education is to train competent, knowledgeable and professional physicians to promote public health care for the nations, sick and advanced the science of medicine. Method: In this study quality of life in medical students of different educational stages of Shiraz medical university and two nearby medical schools in south of IRAN were measured by translated version of the SF-36 questionnaire. All medical students were invited to complete the questionnaire, participation is voluntary and anonymous. Results: Except for the general health scale, the male group had higher mean than female group in all scales. The difference in physical functioning and body pain between the genders were significant (p<0.001) and among all scales physical functioning (P=0.029) and vitality (P=0.026) are higher in the students in physiopathology stage and the lowest means especially in MH and PF were presented in last year medical students. There was a negative linear correlation between MH scale and the age. There was a negative linear correlation between mental health and the age. Conclusion:The potential for enhanced well-being to enhance student and physician professionalism is largely unexplored. Additional research to improve our understanding of the causes and consequences of medical student distress, and to investigate potential solutions, is likely to benefit not only the affected individuals, but also the patients for whom they provide care. Key words: GENERAL HEALTH, IRAN, MEDICAL EDUCATION, MEDICAL STUDENTS, QUALITY OF LIFE, SF-36

Comparing the distress of American and Israeli medical students studying in Israel during a period of terror

Medical school is a very stressful environment with multiple sources of stress, including academic, social and other issues. International medical students are exposed to additional stressors such as homesickness and culture shock. In order to assess the influence of cultural background on the level of perceived distress, we examined Israeli and American students studying at the same university during a period of terror. We found clear differences between the 2 groups of students, with Americans reporting a higher level of anxiety and a poorer level of social functioning than the Israelis. Although there was no significant difference between the 2 groups in terms of their sense of safety, the American students reported a higher level of fear and more change in their daily activities to a greater extent than did the Israelis. These findings underscore the effect of culture on students' responses to the same stressful stimuli and to a perceived dangerous environment. Faculty needs to be aware that cultural factors may affect students' adjustment to the medical school environment.

Medical Student Distress: Causes, Consequences, and Proposed Solutions

The goal of medical education is to graduate knowledgeable, skillful, and professional physicians. The medical school curriculum has been developed to accomplish these ambitions; however, some aspects of training may have unintended negative effects on medical students' mental and emotional health that can undermine these values. Studies suggest that mental health worsens after students begin medical school and remains poor throughout training. On a personal level, this distress can contribute to substance abuse, broken relationships, suicide, and attrition from the profession. On a professional level, studies suggest that student distress contributes to cynicism and subsequently may affect students' care of patients, relationship with faculty, and ultimately the culture of the medical profession. In this article, we review the manifestations and causes of student distress, its potential adverse personal and professional consequences, and proposed institutional approaches to decrease student distress.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students

Background: Medical students confront significant academic, psychosocial, and existential stressors throughout their training. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an educational intervention designed to improve coping skills and reduce emotional distress. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the MBSR intervention in a prospective, nonrandomized, cohort-controlled study. Methods: Second-year students (n = 140) elected to participate in a 10-week MBSR seminar. Controls (n = 162) participated in a didactic seminar on complementary medicine. Profile of Mood States (POMS) was administered preintervention and postintervention. Results: Baseline total mood disturbance (TMD) was greater in the MBSR group compared with controls (38.7 ±33.3 vs. 28.0 ±31.2; p <. 01). Despite this initial difference, the MBSR group scored significantly lower in TMD at the completion of the intervention period (31.8 ±33.8 vs. 38.6 ±32.8; p < . 05). Significant effects were also observed on Tension-Anxiety, Confusion-Bewilderment, Fatigue-Inertia, and Vigor-Activity subscales. Conclusion: MBSR may be an effective stress management intervention for medical students.

Gender differences in medical student distress: Contributions of prior socialization and current role-related stress

Gender differences in psychological distress among future physicians are addressed from contrasting role-related stress and socialization-based vulnerability perspectives. A medical student cohort was surveyed at medical school entrance and after one year of training, focusing on earlier familial relationships, personality and social support resources, perceived medical school stressors and alcohol consumption and depressive and anxiety symptomatology. Relative to socialization perspectives, the sexes manifested more similarities than differences at time 1, although the females manifested lower overall psychopathology, but greater perceived paternal overprotection in childhood. Relative to role stress perspectives, both sexes reported increased psychopathology by the time 2 point. The sexes did not differ in perceived medical school-related stressors, while females manifested better social supports at time 2. The psychosocial predictors of increased subjective distress for both sexes included perceived earlier familial relationships and medical school stressors. The only predictor of increased drinking (by males) was time 1 drinking level. Future research on gender roles and distress should assess both male and female modes of psychopathology and should address antecedents of role entrance in addition to the (presumed) consequences of role incumbency.

Medical student distress. A longitudinal study.

This longitudinal study investigated the relative importance of correlates of psychological distress in first year medical students (N = 312) in September and May. Anxiety levels were one SD above the mean when compared with nonpatient levels in both September and May, and the percentage of students reporting depression doubled over the study period. Problem-focused coping decreased, emotion-focused coping increased, and satisfaction with social supports decreased over the year. In contrast, type A behavior and anger expression were more stable. Students distressed in September were at higher risk for distress in May. Students distressed in May were also characterized by higher scores for suppressed anger and type A behavior in May, even after controlling for distress in September.

A biopsychosocial model of medical student distress.

Medical student distress was examined in two consecutive first-year classes (N = 312) in September, before they interacted with the school regimen, and again in May before exams. Anxiety means were one SD above the normative mean for nonpatients at both times. The number of students reporting a significant level of depression doubled from September (N = 36) to May (N = 78). The correlation of distress in September and May was .40, indicating that for many students distress was enduring. A biopsychosocial model of initial distress explained more variance (36%) in the cross-validation sample than did any one variable alone. Distressed students had higher Type A scores. Also, anger held in was a risk factor for distress in students with a family history of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Students who hold anger in may experience prolonged stress which, coupled with a family history of CVD, could make them psychobiologically vulnerable to distress.

Distress in medical and law students

High levels of distress in medical students have been reported in several studies and have been attributed to the stresses of medical training. In order to compare the severity of distress in medical students to that of other students, we administered the Hopkins Symptom Checklist and the Symptom Questionnaire to 60 medical students (30 first-year and 30 third-year) and to matched law students. Law students reported significantly more depression and anger-hostility and less contentment and feelings of friendliness. Third-year students rated themselves as significantly more distressed than first-year students and females more distressed than males. Distress levels in medical students may be lower than those of other graduate students.

Retrospective Reports of Mothers' Work Patterns and Psychological Distress in First‐Year Medical Students

A study of the correlates of psychological distress in first-year medical students serendipitously revealed an association between student's reports of having had full-time working mothers in early childhood and relatively high levels of psychological distress in medical school. Those who indicated that their mothers had been unemployed before the respondents' 6th birthdays scored lower than the class mean on the distress scale. Those who remembered having had part-time employed mothers reported relatively low levels of distress. The implications of these findings are considered in the context of attachment theorists' implicit debate with the advocates of maternal employment. The authors call for prospective investigations of the interaction among several critical variables which may have contributed to the study's outcome.