Well-being Of Medical Students Research Articles

Assessment of Student Perspectives on Improving Wellness in Medical School: Qualitative Results from a Cross-Sectional Survey of Medical Students in Florida.

PurposeHelping medical students maintain wellbeing has become an important concern, as many medical students report a decline in their mental health during the course of their training. To improve students’ wellbeing, some schools have implemented wellness programs into their curricula. While there is growing research about the effectiveness of these programs, little is known about what medical students themselves desire to support their wellbeing. This study aimed to assess medical student perspectives regarding the most effective ways to promote wellness during medical school.Participants and MethodsTo address this gap in the literature, a survey was administered to medical students at the nine medical schools in the state of Florida. Participants included 864 medical students, whose anonymous responses were analyzed descriptively as well as qualitatively to determine major themes.ResultsStudents provided novel suggestions and recommendations, including ideas for curricular additions and changes, cultural changes within schools, promoting positive behaviors and extracurricular activities, and providing resources for students.ConclusionBased on the participants’ responses, it is evident that wellness is an important issue to medical students and, given the variety of suggestions, schools should strongly consider what wellness changes to implement and whether participation in them should be mandatory. The results of this study will be a resource to medical schools and educators who are considering curricular changes to address medical student wellbeing.

Screening of minor psychiatric disorders and burnout among a sample of medical students in St. Petersburg, Russia: a descriptive study

BackgroundDespite the general interest of researchers around the world, there are few studies on the psychological wellbeing and burnout among medical students in Russia. The aim of this study was to perform screening for minor psychiatric disorders, burnout, problematic alcohol use, and quantify the psychological issues and stress among a sample of medical students in St. Petersburg, Russia.ResultsAccording to the GHQ-12, screening for minor mental disorders was positive in 140 students (85%). Screening for burnout using the OLBI showed positive results in 121 (73%) students for disengagement and 132 (80%) students for exhaustion. Screening with the CAGE tool identified a risk of alcohol consumption in 33 students (20%). Most students reported academic studies as the main source of stress in their life (n = 147; 89.1%).ConclusionsThis study identified very high levels of stress, burnout, risk of minor mental disorders, and problematic alcohol use among medical students in St. Petersburg, Russia. These findings suggest more attention is needed to the poor mental wellbeing and health in medical students in Russia.

Comparative Effects of Suture and Non-Suture Surgical Techniques on Platysma after Thyroid SurgeryFast Food Intake Affecting Physical and Mental Well-Being of Medical Students in Lahore

Background: Fast food consumption is being significantly affecting physical and mental health of children and adolescent. Unhealthy diet is designated as the major cause of various medical illness. Among these most common is obesity. This also leads to anxiety, sleep disorder, verbal abuse and hence responsible for mental issues as well. Aim: To observe factors affected by fast food consumption among youngsters. Methodology: A cross-sectional study design was used to conduct a study for factor analysis of physical and mental health issues related to fast food consumption at a private medical college in Lahore, Pakistan. The data was collected using self-designed questionnaire to collect information about the physical health, mental health, routine exercise, workout and fast -food consumption attitude. Results: Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used to access the total explained variation through varimax rotation. Kaiser-Meyer Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett test of sphericity was seen to have a p-value 0.000 which is significant. Significant results of KMO and Bartlett test allows for EFA. It has been seen that thirteen factors contributed to explain more than 70% of the variation Conclusion: Most commonly affected factors were physical and mental well-being that explained maximum variation. These factors comprised minor mental issues like emotional health, anger, mood swings and anxiety and physical health such as worse effect on health, less physical activity/ inactivity and irregular exercise. Major Keywords: Fast food, Mental Health, Obesity, Physical Health, Risk.

The Impact of Social Network Site Addiction on Depression in Chinese Medical Students: A Serial Multiple Mediator Model Involving Loneliness and Unmet Interpersonal Needs.

The use of social network sites (SNSs) is inevitable in daily life. Everyone is likely to be addicted to SNSs, especially medical students. This study is aimed to assess the degree of SNS addiction and its relation to psychosocial factors such as depression, loneliness and unmet interpersonal needs among Chinese medical students. The cross-section survey was conducted from March to May in 2018 in Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. Of the total 1067 participants, 33.18% had an SNS addiction, 87.7% of the participants used SNSs every day during last month and 53.42% of the participants used SNSs for at least an hour per day during the last week. SNS addiction is positively related with depression both directly and indirectly. The mediating roles of loneliness and unmet interpersonal needs on the relationship between SNS addiction and depression are significant. For the well-being of medical students, efforts should be taken to prevent them from becoming addicted to SNSs.

The Association Among Achievement Goal Orientations, Academic Performance, and Academic Well-Being Among Chinese Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Learning motivation is a significant factor that ensures quality in medical education, and might affect the academic performance and well-being of medical students. This study aimed to explore the status of achievement goal orientations among medical students in China and to further identify the association among academic performance, academic well-being, and achievement goal orientations. Data were collected through a cross-sectional, anonymous survey conducted with 3,511 respondents (effective response rate = 81.7%), from four medical universities in China, and demographic factors, achievement goal orientations, academic performance, and academic well-being were assessed. The average score of achievement goal orientations of Chinese medical students suggested a difference in demographic factors, including sex, year of study, experience of leadership cadre, and family income. Both mastery and performance-avoidance goals were associated with academic performance, subjective academic stress, subjective learning adaptability, subjective sleep quality, and subjective well-being. Performance-approach goals were related to academic performance, subjective academic stress, and subjective learning adaptability. The achievement goal orientations of the medical students in this study were at a middle level. The findings emphasize the importance of mastery goals for promoting the academic performance and well-being of medical students. More care and attention toward achievement goal orientations can be beneficial for the improvement of the academic performance and well-being among medical students.

The direct and indirect effects of clinical empathy on well-being among pre-medical students: a structural equation model approach

BackgroundEmpathy is a well-established facet of clinical competency that research suggests is associated with enhanced medical student well-being. Since little is known about empathy and well-being before students enter medical school—during pre-medical education—the main goal of this study is to test a conceptual model of how clinical empathy is related to two indicators of well-being, depression, and burnout among pre-medical students. The theoretical model hypothesizes that three dimensions of clinical empathy—Perspective-Taking, Compassionate Care, and Standing in Patients’ Shoes— will be directly and negatively related to depression, as well as indirectly through its inverse relationship with three facets of burnout, Emotional Exhaustion, Poor Academic Efficacy, and Cynicism.MethodsUsing survey data from a sample of 132 pre-medical students at an American Midwestern university, this study employs structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the theoretical model of the relationships between empathy, burnout, and depression among pre-medical students. We identify the direct effects of the three dimensions of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSE-S) on depression (CES-D), as well as the indirect effects of clinical empathy on depression through the three dimensions of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-S).ResultsSEM analyses show that while none of the three dimensions of the JSE-S are directly related to depression, clinical empathy does significantly affect depression indirectly through burnout. Specifically, as predicted, we find that Perspective-Taking decreases Emotional Exhaustion, but, contrary to expectations, Compassionate Care increases it. And, the positive relationship between Compassionate Care and Emotional Exhaustion is particularly strong. In turn, Perspective-Taking and Compassionate Care are associated with depression in opposite directions and to different degrees.ConclusionsFindings suggest that clinical empathy as measured by the JSE-S produces both positive and negative effects on personal well-being. We conclude that further conceptual clarity of clinical empathy is needed to better discern how the different dimensions impact different indicators of well-being. Given that pre-medical education is a crucial time for emotional socialization, the challenge for medical education will be fostering the positive, cognitive aspects of clinical empathy while simultaneously mitigating the adverse effects of affective empathy on medical student well-being.

Can a psychological-educational supportive intervention enhance the psychological well-being and academic performance of freshman medical students?

Background: Freshman medical students experience high levels of distress, which may affect their learning ability. The present study assessed the effectiveness of a psychological-educational supportive package on the psychological well-being and the academic performance of freshman medical students. Methods: We included all the first-year medical students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in the educational year of 2018-2019 in the present study, using the census method. The first-year medical students of autumn semester 2018 formed the control group and those in winter semester 2019 formed intervention group. 102 students among the control and 129 students (divided into 13 groups) among the intervention group voluntarily completed the study. The intervention was a psychological-educational supportive package designed to provide a supportive environment for freshmen and enhance peer-group interactions, increase emotional intelligence, coping and problem-solving strategies. It consisted of 6 weekly group sessions for first-year medical students, followed by follow-up sessions until the end of the first semester. The outcome measures were Grade Point Average (GPA) of the first and second semesters as the indicators of academic performance and the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) at the beginning of the first semester, at the end of the semesters to quantify the level of psychological well-being. Results: The mean GHQ-28 changes in the intervention group were significantly higher than the control group (pre-test/post-test: P= 0.013, post-test/follow-up: p <0.0001). In the intervention group, GPA was significantly higher than the control group in both the first and second semesters (P=0.016, p <0.0001, respectively). Conclusion: Psychological-educational intervention improved the level of psychological well-being and academic performance of freshman medical students.

The Prevalence and Severity of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress among Medical Undergraduate Students of Arsi University and Their Association with Substance Use, Southeast Ethiopia

Background. Mental problems can negatively impact physical and psychological well-being of junior medical students and predispose them to many unhealthy behaviors. Objective. We aimed to determine the prevalence and severity of depression, anxiety, and stress among medical undergraduate students of Arsi University and their association with substance use. Methods. Institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 265 sampled medical students. Participants were selected by systematic random sampling. Data were collected by a pretested self-administrative questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS-21 software. Logistic regression analysis was employed, and statistical significance was accepted at p &lt; 0.05 . Result. In the present study, 5 questionnaires were rejected for incompleteness giving response rate of 98.1%. The mean age was 22.03 (SD = 2.074) years. The current prevalence rates of depression, anxiety, and stress were 52.3%, 60.8%, and 40.4%, respectively. The overall prevalence of khat chewing, cigarette smoking, and alcohol drinking was found to be 21.5%, 15.4%, and 33.8%, respectively. Depression was significantly associated with monthly income [AOR = 2.13], residency [AOR = 13.10], and alcohol drinking [AOR = 1.68]. Anxiety was associated with gender [AOR = 0.51], marital status [AOR = 0.46], educational year [AOR = 20.43], residency [AOR = 58.72], and cigarette smoking [AOR = 2.60]. Stress was significantly associated with monthly income [AOR = 2.21], educational year [AOR = 3.05], residency [AOR = 4.82], khat chewing [AOR = 1.90], and drinking alcohol [AOR = 1.84]. Conclusion. To sum up, depression, anxiety, and stress are common problems among medical students of Arsi University. Monthly income, residency, and alcohol drinking were identified as risk factors of both depression and stress. In addition to other mentioned factors, educational year and khat chewing were identified as risk factors of stress. However, gender, marital status, educational year, residency, and cigarette smoking were identified as risk factors of anxiety. Counselling and awareness creation are recommended.

Post-traumatic stress disorder following COVID-19 pandemic among medical students in Riyadh: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundIn recent times, COVID-19 has been recognized as a public health emergency and thus far, most papers published on it are focused only on the clinical characteristics of infected patients. This pandemic has also made phenomenal emotional impact among the young and the old. We aimed to find out the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological well-being of medical students in a University at Riyadh.ResultsThere were 309 participants in the study. Out of them 44% did not have PTSD, 29% had score more than 37 which might contribute to immune suppression, in 18.4% PTSD was a clinical concern and 8.6% had probable PTSD. Female participants were the majority in the group and they also had higher chance of having consequences than the male counterparts (P < 0.001). Avoidance score between male and female gender was significantly different.ConclusionCOVID-19 pandemic has not just affected the physiological functioning of the affected individuals but also has had a probable post-traumatic stress disorder among young college students. Screening for psychological well-being and the treatment for PTSD is imperative in college, school and general population.

Mental Health Effects of COVID-19 Within the Socioeconomic Crisis and After the Beirut Blast Among Health Care Workers and Medical Students in Lebanon.

Objective: To measure the mental health effects (perceived stress, anxiety, and depression) among health care workers and medical students in Lebanon during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and subsequent to the Beirut blast. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a self-administered online questionnaire was developed and distributed between late December 2020 and early February 2021 among health care workers and medical students via social media. The 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and the 4-item Patient Health Questionnaire for Depression and Anxiety (PHQ-4) were administered. P values between variables were calculated using χ2 test. Results: Overall, 98% of the respondents had a low PSS-10 score and 89% had a low PHQ-4 score. About 58.1% of health care workers and 69.0% of student respondents had moderate to severe stress on the PSS-10, and 48.7% and 46.8%, respectively, reported moderate to severe anxiety and depression on the PHQ-4. Prevalence of depression and anxiety was relatively higher among health care workers with monthly incomes < LBP 4 million (57.1%) and higher in women (39.9%) compared to men (17.2%). Furthermore, the prevalence of depression and anxiety was higher among health care workers traveling between different districts (63.0%) compared to those with residence and work location within the same district and was higher among females (65.4%) compared to males (34.6%). Conclusions: The resilience of the Lebanese people as well as their ability to adapt in the face of trauma, tragedy, threats, or any significant source of stress is remarkable and seen in their everyday lives, especially subsequent to the Beirut blast. However, the psychological well-being and mental health of health care workers and medical students in Lebanon should be carefully surveilled and recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially within the ongoing socioeconomic crisis.

Improvement of the management of mental well-being and empathy in Chinese medical students: a randomized controlled study

BackgroundAmong Chinese medical students, there is a high prevalence of mental health-related issues and low empathy. Effective strategies to improve this situation are lacking. This study aims to investigate the efficacy of the intervention courses designed to enhance the mental health and empathy of senior Chinese medical students.MethodsA total of 146 3rd - and 4th -year medical students were randomized to an intervention group (n = 74) and a control group (n = 72). A pilot study including 5 pre-clinical students and 5 interns was first carried out to determine the themes and content of the intervention courses. The designed courses were delivered in the intervention group once a month three times, while the control group had no specific intervention. Five self-assessment questionnaires, including the General Self-Efficacy (GSE) scale, Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 8 (SF-8), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), and Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Care Provider Student version (JSE-HPS), were completed by the students before and one month after the courses to evaluate their levels of self-efficacy (SE), quality of life (QoL), depression, burnout, and empathy, respectively. Qualitative data were collected via e-mail two years after the intervention.ResultsCompared to the control group, the intervention group showed significantly higher scores for empathy (111.0 [IQR 102.0, 118.0] vs. 106.0 [IQR 93.0, 111.5]; P = .01) and QoL (32.0 [IQR 28.0, 35.0] vs. 29.5 [IQR 26.0, 34.0]; P = .04). The rate of depression was significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group (13.5 % vs. 29.2 %; chi-square test, P = .02). However, no significant differences in self-efficacy (25.6 ± 4.8 vs. 24.3 ± 6.3; P = .16) or burnout (27.0 % vs. 34.7 %; Chi-square test, P = .31) were observed between the two groups.ConclusionsThe intervention courses had a positive impact on mental well-being and empathy in senior Chinese medical students, which might help provide novel information for their incorporation into the medical school curriculum.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02645643; Date of registration: 05/01/2016.

Correlation of Breakfast Consumption Frequency and Grade Point Average in Preclinical Medical Students

Abstract Background: Due to its nutritious, metabolic, and overall energy-providing benefits, studies have emphasized the value of breakfast, resulting in support of breakfast as “the most important meal of the day,” and subsequently, essential for academic success. However, limited research exists on the impact of habitual breakfast consumption on medical students. How does eating breakfast contribute to the academic success and well-being of medical students? Methods: A voluntary survey was distributed to preclinical medical students to gather information on their breakfast-eating habits as well as other indicators of well-being, including mental health, physical health, and stress. Participants indicated the average number of times per week they consumed breakfast. They also recorded the likelihood of eating breakfast on the day of an exam and various components of well-being on a five-point Likert scale. Subjects also provided student identification (ID) numbers. To measure academic success, grade point averages (GPAs) were then extracted using each student's ID number. A correlation analysis was performed between the breakfast-eating habits of medical students and their GPA. Results: 121 surveys met the inclusion criteria. A correlation analysis showed that frequency of eating breakfast was positively correlated with GPA (r=0.35, p&amp;lt;0.001). Eating breakfast on the day of an exam was also positively correlated with GPA (r=0.32, p&amp;lt;0.001). Eating breakfast had no significant correlation with indices of well-being. Conclusion: Consistently eating breakfast may contribute to greater academic performance among medical students. However, eating breakfast appears to have no impact on well-being. Based on this research, eating breakfast regularly may help preclinical medical students boost their academic performance.

САМОСПРИЙНЯТТЯ ЗМІН СПОСОБУ ЖИТТЯ ТА БЛАГОПОЛУЧЧЯ, ЗУМОВЛЕНИХ СОЦІАЛЬНИМ ДИСТАНЦІЮВАННЯМ ПІД ЧАС COVID-19 СЕРЕД СТУДЕНТІВ-МЕДИКІВ (дослідження у Львові, Україна)

Social distancing related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic caused by SARS COV2 is an important precautionary measure, implemented by WHO approximately 1 year ago. At the same time, it is a large-scale stressor that has led to multiple changes in the lifestyle around the world. In this crisis, the well-being and health of medical students who belong to the individuals with a high risk of distress in the population are very important for society. The purpose of this research is to study the impact of COVID-19-related stay-at-home policy, social isolation, online academic learning, and working on the medical students' lifestyle and well-being focusing on their self-perception of telecommunication technologies, social media, as well as on the psychophysiological state, and eating behavior of medical students of Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University (LNMU). Methods. A prospective, cohort study was carried out on 273 medical students of the LNMU via an anonymous online survey using Google Forms. 273 people of different ethnicities answered the original questionnaire, which includes: 1) general questions (age, gender, ethnicity, family, education, work, and economic status); 2) issues related to the use of social media; 3) questions about the impact of social distancing on lifestyle; 4) the scale of stress perception. Results: The cohort for the study consisted of 166 women and 107 men in the following age groups: from 17 to 24 — 92 %, 25–31 — 4 %, 35–44 — 2 %, and over 45 years — 2 %. Ethnic groups included Asian — 47 %, Caucasian — 41 %, African — 7 %, Hispanic — 3 %, and multiracial people — 2 %. Social exclusion during COVID-19 was found to be caused by a change in the use of social media, more time spent on using them by all respondents. Among these, 88 % acknowledge that social media have a great impact and 71 % of responders learn basic information about the pandemic via social media. However, 52 % doubt the reliability of the information. The feeling of anxiety, panic, which characterized the perception of stress caused by information on social media, was reported by 56 % of respondents. Almost all respondents changed their lifestyle, which was characterized by physical inactivity and changed eating behavior. About 60 % of respondents reported overeating in the evening and at night (19:00 — 5:00) and almost half of all respondents reported weight gain in the last year. All respondents know about the benefits of physical activity to overcome signs of psycho-emotional stress, but only about 10 % of respondents exercise regularly. There were no differences in the responses from students belonging to the Caucasian group or other ethnicities. Conclusions. The lifestyle of student youth, their eating behavior, and psycho-emotional state are being modified during COVID-19. Social media is an important informative factor in the context of social exclusion and the fight against chronic stress

Incidence of and Risk Factors for Major Hemorrhage in Patients Treated with Ibrutinib: Results from an Integrated Analysis

Incidence of and Risk Factors for Major Hemorrhage in Patients Treated with Ibrutinib: Results from an Integrated Analysis

Burnout, empathy and well-being in medical and psychology students

The present study aims to analyze the relationships between burnout, empathy and the well-being of medical and psychology students, as well as the differences in these variables depending on their specialization. The study was attended by 270 students, 94 males (35%) and 176 females (65%), aged between 18 and 48 years, M = 20.84, SD =3.26. Regarding the specialization, 83 are enrolled at the Faculty of Dentistry Titu Maiorescu (31%), 73 are enrolled at the Faculty of General Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila (27%), and 114 are enrolled at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Bucharest (42%). Burnout was measured with the Academic Burnout Scale (Zhang, Shi, Yun, Li, Wang, He, &amp; Miao, 2015), empathy was measured with the Jefferson Scale of Empathy, JSE (Hojat, Maxwell, Carroll, &amp; Cass, 2016), and well-being was measured with The Satisfaction with Life Scale, SWLS (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, &amp; Griffin, 1985). The results showed that medical students have higher levels of burnout than psychology students and lower levels of empathy and well-being. Empathy also moderates the relationship between burnout and well- being. These results can be used to develop intervention programs to reduce burnout and increase students' empathy in order to increase well-being.

Assessment of health-promoting lifestyle profile and its relation with well-being of medical students: A cross sectional study.

Objectives: The aim of our study was to determine the importance and assessment of a health-promoting lifestyle and its possible association with well-being of medical students. Study Design: Cross Sectional Study. Setting: Aziz Fatima Medical and Dental College Faisalabad. Period: June to July 2020. Material &amp; Methods: The English version of Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile, and WHO-5 Well-Being Index were used in our study. Results: The research was conducted with 205 medical students. From which 102(49.8%) belongs from 4-year class and 103(50.2%) from 5-year class. Based on the table, the mean age of the total participants was 22.45(±1.03) years. Among the participants, the mean score of a health-promoting lifestyle was 133.36 ±18.90, which is interpreted as moderate. Lifestyle mean score is greater in 5th-year class as compare to 4th-year class but no significant difference was found because p value is greater than 0.05 there was a significant relationship between well-being and health-promoting lifestyle. Age and gender, were associated with students lifestyles. Independent t test is used to compare the mean difference in gender and MBBS class. Chi square test is used to find the significant association between well-being categories with gender and MBBS class. Pearson correlation coefficient method is used to measure the correlation between well being and healthy lifestyles. Conclusion: A health-promoting lifestyle of students in this study was moderate and they did not have an acceptable level of physical activity. The medical students’ curriculums need to be improved to enhance health promoting lifestyles.

Prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress disorders among medical students in Alexandria Faculty of Medicine during COVID-19 pandemic

AimsWe aimed to assess the impact of the current pandemic on the mental well-being of undergraduate medical students of Alexandria Faculty of Medicine, Egypt.MethodWe designed a structured anonymous online questionnaire and encourage students to fill it in on social platforms. The questionnaire is composed of seven parts, each one includes multiple choice questions aimed to measure the impact of the pandemic on different aspect of daily activities namely: academic performance, social and family relationship, eating and smoking habits, sleep pattern, physical activity and the Depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21). The last part was an open question where participants can state their comments about the experiences during the quarantine and how they affected their mental health.ResultA total of 1181 students from the six academic grades responded. Females and students in the third academic year showed the highest prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress. Overall, most respondents reported that the current pandemic had negative impacts on their academic performance (71%) and social relationship (67.5 %). The majority of the students stated that they became less physically active (74.6%) and 52.2% experienced a weight gain. Despite that 60% of the studied population rated their sleeping quality as ‘’very good’’ and ‘’fairly good’’, 45.3% and 39.6% suffered from increased sleeping hours and disturbed sleep respectively. Based on students’ responses of the DASS-21, over half of the participants (62.2%) were experiencing moderate to extremely severe stress and over 33% were consistent with symptoms of extremely severe anxiety. In respect of depression, nearly half of the sample (46.4%) can be described as having extremely severe depression according to the cut-off points of the DASS-21.ConclusionThe current pandemic has increased the challenges and burdens on undergraduate medical students. These impacts can be more profound in developing countries such as Egypt. The levels of psychiatric symptoms are alarming compared to previous local and international studies. These unprecedented consequences should be addressed promptly through students’ counselling and psychiatric assistance. To date, this is the largest psychiatric and survey-based study conducted on Alexandria Faculty of Medicine.Financial disclosure: The study was not funded by any organization, the authors did not receive any financial aids.

How medical students cope with stress: a cross-sectional look at strategies and their sociodemographic antecedents

BackgroundMedical training can be highly stressful for students and negatively impact their mental health. Important to this matter are the types of coping strategies (and their antecedents) medical students use, which are only characterized to a limited extent. A better understanding of these phenomena can shed additional light on ways to support the health and well-being of medical students. Accordingly, we sought to determine medical students’ use of various coping reactions to stress and how their gender and year of study influence those behaviours.MethodsA total of 400 University of Saskatchewan medical students were invited to complete an online survey. Using the Brief COPE inventory, we assessed students’ reported use of various adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies. Descriptive and comparative statistics were performed, including multivariate analysis of variance, to explore how gender and year influenced coping strategies.ResultsThe participation rate was 49% (47% males and 53% females). Overall, the students’ coping strategies were mostly adaptive, albeit with a few exceptions. Females used more behavioural disengagement, while males used less emotional and instrumental support. Additionally, third years used more denial to cope with stress than students in any other year.ConclusionsWhile few studies report significant sociodemographic effects on medical student coping, our findings raise the possibility that males and females do engage in different coping strategies in medical school, and that the clinical learning environment in third year may provoke more dysfunctional coping, compared to pre-clinical stages of training. Potential explanations and implications of these results are discussed.

Exploring wellbeing in first year medical students amidst a curriculum change

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.

Factors Associated with Burnout in Clinical Year Medical Students in Terengganu, Malaysia

Abstract&#x0D; &#x0D; Many studies have shown that burnout had a detrimental effect on the well-being of medical students. In medical students, the prevalence of burnout increased as the year progressed. The Objective of the study was to determine the predictors for burnout in clinical year medical students. There were 120 clinical year medical students selected for this study using stratified random sampling. Students’ demographics, academic data, Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) and USM emotional intelligence Inventory (USMEQ-i) in Google Forms were distributed using WhatsApp application. Data include entry CGPA and whether they made the correct decision to do medicine and ever thought of dropping out. The response was in the form of ‘Yes/No’. Burnout was categorised into significant and non-significant burnout based on the mean CBI score. Each factor was categorized into two categories was analysed using Chi-Square test. Further analysis was done using multiple logistic regression. There were 105 students responded. The percentage of students categorised as having significant burnout was 41.0% (95% CI 31.5; 50.1). Incorrect decision to do medicine, ever thought of dropping out and lower emotional intelligence were significant predictors for burnout with odd ratio of 6.06, 3.06 and 3.24 respectively. As a conclusion, correct decision to do medicine and emotional intelligence were important predictors for burnout in clinical year medical students. They may be considered as important factors to be looked into during student selection interview.&#x0D; &#x0D; Keywords: Burnout, medical students, emotional intelligence&#x0D;