Psychometric properties of the Medical Student Well-Being Index among medical students in a Malaysian medical school

Increasing data suggest that for medical school students the stress of academic and psychologicaldemands can impair social emotions that are a core aspect of compassion and ultimately physiciancompetence. Few interventions have proven successful for enhancing physician compassion inways that persist in the face of suffering and that enable sustained caretaker well-being. To addressthis issue, the current study was designed to (1) investigate the feasibility of cognitively-basedcompassion training (CBCT) for second-year medical students, and (2) test whether CBCT decreasesdepression, enhances compassion, and improves daily functioning in medical students. Comparedto the wait-list group, students randomized to CBCT reported increased compassion, and decreasedloneliness and depression. Changes in compassion were most robust in individuals reporting highlevels of depression at baseline, suggesting that CBCT may benefit those most in need by breakingthe link between personal suffering and a concomitant drop in compassion

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Medical students’ attitudes towards mental health disclosure: a qualitative study

Journal of Public Mental Health ◽

10.1108/jpmh-05-2020-0051 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Ryan Christy

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Medical Student ◽

Medical Students ◽

Medical School ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Medical Curriculum ◽

Well Being ◽

Health Problems ◽

Medical Council ◽

Content Type

Purpose In 2013, the General Medical Council conducted research into best practice for supporting medical students with mental health concerns, producing a document outlining University’s duty of care. It also outlined reasons as to why medical students are susceptible to mental illness. The purpose of this paper is to explore what factors affected medical students' disclosure of mental health problems and their help-seeking behaviour today and if these differed from the GMC’s findings from 2013. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was issued to all University of Glasgow medical student year groups. In total, 72 people responded. All responses were then analysed by the primary researcher using Mayring’s six-step approach of systematic, rule guided qualitative text analysis. Findings Four main barriers to disclosure were revealed: fear of repercussions, medical student “expectations”, judgement and lack of support. Respondents feared being deemed unfit to practise, displaying “weakness” or being treated differently. They believed support provided was inadequate or inaccessible. Less than half felt the Medical School made mental health support easily available and only 11% were even aware of the GMC document. Respondents believed medical students were psychologically vulnerable due to Medical School environment, work load, “expectations” and course content. They perceived the Medical School was “a pressure cooker” for mental health problems and yet student well-being was not prioritised. Originality/value The research highlighted some key areas that universities should address, such as promoting support services available, recognising the unique stresses of the medical curriculum and the need for provision of resources that can be accessed without fear, stigmatisation or uncertainty.

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The Suffering Medical Students Attribute to Their Undergraduate Medical Education

Family Medicine ◽

10.22454/fammed.2018.116755 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 50 (4) ◽

pp. 296-299 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Thomas R. Egnew ◽

Peter R. Lewis ◽

Kimberly R. Meyers ◽

William R. Phillips

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Medical Student ◽

Medical Students ◽

Medical School ◽

Student Perceptions ◽

Medical Training ◽

Well Being ◽

Negative Consequences ◽

Emotional Suppression ◽

School Teaching

Background and Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore medical student perceptions of their medical school teaching and learning about human suffering and their recommendations for teaching about suffering. During data collection, students also shared their percerptions of personal suffering which they attributed to their medical education. Methods: In April through May 2015, we conducted focus groups involving a total of 51 students representing all four classes at two US medical schools. Results: Some students in all groups reported suffering that they attributed to the experience of medical school and the culture of medical education. Sources of suffering included isolation, stoicism, confusion about personal/professional identity and role as medical students, and witnessing suffering in patients, families, and colleagues. Students described emotional distress, dehumanization, powerlessness, and disillusionment as negative consequences of their suffering. Reported means of adaptation to their suffering included distraction, emotional suppression, compartmentalization, and reframing. Students also identified activities that promoted well-being: small-group discussions, protected opportunities for venting, and guidance for sharing their experiences. They recommended integration of these strategies longitudinally throughout medical training. Conclusions: Students reported suffering related to their medical education. They identified common causes of suffering, harmful consequences, and adaptive and supportive approaches to limit and/or ameliorate suffering. Understanding student suffering can complement efforts to reduce medical student distress and support well-being.

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Culinary Medicine Training in Core Medical School Curriculum Improved Medical Student Nutrition Knowledge and Confidence in Providing Nutrition Counseling

American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine ◽

10.1177/15598276211021749 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 155982762110217

Author(s):

Christopher R. D’Adamo ◽

Kayli Workman ◽

Christine Barnabic ◽

Norman Retener ◽

Bernadette Siaton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Student ◽

Medical Students ◽

Medical School ◽

Patient Care ◽

School Curriculum ◽

Nutrition Knowledge ◽

Medical School Curriculum ◽

Nutrition Counseling ◽

Patient Counseling ◽

Culinary Medicine

Background: Elective culinary medicine education has become popular to help fill important gaps in physician nutrition training. The implementation and outcomes among the inaugural cohort of medical students who received culinary medicine training as a required component of medical school curriculum at the University of Maryland School of Medicine are described. Methods: Following a series of elective pilot sessions, culinary medicine training was provided to all first-year medical students in the 2019-2020 academic year. The 3-hour training included evidence-based nutrition lecture, cooking simple recipes, and group discussion of the application to personal and patient care. Pre-/postsession questionnaires assessed nutrition knowledge, skills, and attitudes as well as nutritional counseling confidence. Paired t-tests estimated mean differences in outcomes pre- and posttraining. Qualitative data were subjected to thematic analysis. Results: Overall, 119 of 125 (95.2%) students provided pre- and posttraining outcomes data. All nutritional and patient counseling outcomes improved ( P < .05). Themes of being better prepared to address healthy eating barriers in patient care and personal ability to make healthy dietary changes were noted in qualitative analysis. Conclusion: One session of culinary medicine training in core medical student curriculum was feasible and improved medical student nutrition knowledge, skills, and attitudes and confidence in patient nutrition counseling.

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Development of a Positive Psychology Program (LAVENDER) for Preserving Medical Student Well-being: A Single-Arm Pilot Study

Global Advances in Health and Medicine ◽

10.1177/2164956120988481 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

pp. 216495612098848

Author(s):

Elaine O Cheung ◽

Ian Kwok ◽

Allison B Ludwig ◽

William Burton ◽

Xinzi Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Student ◽

Medical Students ◽

Positive Psychology ◽

Positive Emotion ◽

Albert Einstein College ◽

Albert Einstein ◽

Well Being ◽

Preliminary Evidence ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Psychology Program

Background Mental health tends to worsen over the course of medical school, with steep declines in well-being in students’ clerkship year (M3). Positive emotion promotes adaptive coping to stress and may help preserve medical student well-being. Objective This study describes the development of LAVENDER (Leveraging Affect and Valuing Empathy for Nurturing Doctors’ Emotional Resilience), a program aimed at increasing positive emotion to preserve well-being in medical students. Methods We conducted a single-arm pilot of LAVENDER, a positive psychology intervention developed for medical students delivered in an interactive classroom format to a cohort of 157 third-year medical students at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Our primary outcome was the acceptability of LAVENDER. We also examined preliminary efficacy using measures of emotion, stress and burnout collected at each intervention session. Results LAVENDER showed good acceptability: 76% of participants agreed that the LAVENDER skills were useful and 72% agreed that they would recommend the LAVENDER program to others. Qualitative feedback suggested that medical students enjoyed the program and found the skills to be useful for coping with stress, but also reported the following barriers to engagement: lack of time to practice the skills, resistance to the mandatory nature of the wellness sessions, and difficulty integrating the skills in daily life. We did not find support for the preliminary efficacy of LAVENDER for improving medical student well-being in students’ clerkship year. Participants showed decreases in positive emotion and increases in symptoms of burnout over the intervention period ( ps < .01). Conclusion The current paper describes the development and a single-arm pilot test of LAVENDER, a positive psychology program tailored for medical students. Although we found preliminary evidence for the acceptability of LAVENDER, we did not find support for the preliminary efficacy. Lessons learned and next steps for the program are discussed.

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Survey of Osteopathic Medical Students Regarding Physician Shadowing Experiences Before and During Medical School Training

Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development ◽

10.1177/2382120519852046 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. 238212051985204

Author(s):

Erik Langenau ◽

Sarah B Frank ◽

Sarah J Calardo ◽

Michael B Roberts

Keyword(s):

Medical Student ◽

Medical Students ◽

Medical School ◽

Patient Care ◽

Student Experiences ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Convenience Sample ◽

Care Experience ◽

Ensure Patient Safety ◽

College Of Osteopathic Medicine

Introduction: Shadowing a physician is an observational experience which includes a student observing a licensed healthcare provider caring for patients. Shadowing is commonly done by students before and during medical school, but little is known about the nature or extent of these extra-curricular observational experiences. Objective: We hypothesized that shadowing experiences were common yet variable. We investigated the prevalence, nature, and perceived value of medical student experiences with shadowing physicians (both before and during medical school). Methods: This survey-based study was non-experimental with a cross-sectional convenience sample of osteopathic medical students about their shadowing experiences before and during medical school. The survey was sent to all matriculated osteopathic medical students (OMS1-4) for the 2017 to 2018 academic year from two medical schools: Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) (1084 total students) and PCOM-Georgia (554 total students). The final survey instrument included three sections: demographics (6 questions), pre-medical shadowing experiences (21 questions), and medical student shadowing experiences (24 questions). Results: Respondents (357) identified themselves as OMS1 (96), OMS2 (89), OMS3 (73), OMS4 (95) and other (2, OMS5) with enrollment at PCOM-Philadelphia (242) and PCOM-Georgia (115). Among survey respondents, 339 (95.5%) reported shadowing a physician as a pre-medical student, and 110 (30.8%) reported shadowing (outside of their required clinical rotations) a physician during medical school. Requirements to participate were inconsistent; fewer than 50% of shadowing experiences required Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) training, proof of vaccination, or purified protein derivative (PPD) documentation. In addition to observation, pre-medical and medical students, respectively, participated in history taking (44 [13%], 47 [42.7%]), physical examinations (45 [13.3%], 44 [40%]) and procedures (13, [3.8%], 20 [18.2%]) during their shadowing experiences. Motivations to participate in shadowing varied between pre-medical and medical student experiences, but both groups mentioned their desire to learn more about a particular discipline, obtain letters of recommendation, and gain patient care experience. Students recommended both pre-medical (273 [80.5%]) and medical school (93 [84.5%]) shadowing to future students. Conclusion: Shadowing remains a common and important tool for students to learn about patient care, medicine and careers. The nature of each shadowing experience and participation requirements are quite variable. Measures to ensure patient safety, confidentiality, liability and supervision are inconsistently applied. Promoting guidelines, as well as codes of conduct, for shadowing could serve as a helpful resource for students, academic advisors and supervising clinicians.

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Development and preliminary psychometric properties of a well-being index for medical students

BMC Medical Education ◽

10.1186/1472-6920-10-8 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Liselotte N Dyrbye ◽

Daniel W Szydlo ◽

Steven M Downing ◽

Jeff A Sloan ◽

Tait D Shanafelt

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Psychometric Properties ◽

Well Being

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Should medical students perform pelvic exams on anaesthetised patients without explicit consent?

Clinical Ethics ◽

10.1177/14777509211070495 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 147775092110704

Author(s):

Chloe Bell ◽

Nathan Emmerich

Keyword(s):

Medical Student ◽

Informed Consent ◽

Medical Students ◽

Medical School ◽

Consent Process ◽

Potential Harm ◽

Explicit Consent ◽

Subsequent Discussion ◽

Pelvic Examinations

There have been many reports of medical students performing pelvic exams on anaesthetised patients without the necessary consent being provided or even sought. These cases have led to an ongoing discussion regarding the need to ensure informed consent has been secured and furthermore, how it might be best obtained. We consider the importance of informed consent, the potential harm to both the patient and medical student risked by the suboptimal consent process, as well as alternatives to teaching pelvic examinations within medical school. The subsequent discussion focuses on whether medical students should perform pelvic examinations on anaesthetised patients without personally ensuring that they have given their explicit consent. Whilst we question the need to conduct pelvic examinations on anaesthetised patients in any circumstance, we argue that medical students should not perform such exams without personally securing the patients informed consent.

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Fourth-Year Podiatric Medical Student Perspectives on Clerkships and Residency Selection

Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association ◽

10.7547/17-033 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 108 (4) ◽

pp. 311-319 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

David W. Shofler ◽

Kathryn Bosia ◽

Lawrence Harkless

Keyword(s):

Medical Student ◽

Medical Students ◽

Medical School ◽

Online Survey ◽

Learning Experiences ◽

Residency Programs ◽

Forefoot Surgery ◽

Quality Of Learning ◽

Attending Physicians

Background: The fourth year of podiatric medical school is an important period in the education of the podiatric medical student, a period that consists largely of month-long clerkships. Nonetheless, there has been limited formal study of the quality of learning experiences during this period. Furthermore, there is limited knowledge of how podiatric medical students evaluate residency programs during clerkships. Methods: An online survey was developed and distributed electronically to fourth-year podiatric medical school students. The focus of the survey was the quality of learning experiences during externships, and decision making in ranking residency programs. Results: The most valuable learning experiences during clerkships were interactions with attending physicians, interactions with residents, and general feedback in surgery. Students self-identified that they most improved in the following areas during clerkships: forefoot surgery, clinical podiatry skills, and rearfoot surgery. The areas in which students improved the least were research, pediatrics, and practice management. The three most important factors students considered as they created their rank list were hands-on resident participation in surgical training, the attitude and personality of the residents, and the attitude and personality of the attending physicians. A range of surgical interest was identified among students, and students lacking in surgical interest self-reported less improvement in various surgical topics. Conclusions: The perspectives of fourth-year podiatric medical students are currently an underused resource. Improved understanding can help residency programs improve the quality of associated learning experiences and can make their programs more appealing to potential residency candidates.

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Medical student and psychiatrist perceptions towards a psychiatric career

Mental Health Review Journal ◽

10.1108/mhrj-03-2017-0015 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 22 (4) ◽

pp. 315-323

Author(s):

Thomas Flamini ◽

Natasha R. Matthews ◽

George S. Castle ◽

Elliot M. Jones-Williams

Keyword(s):

Medical Student ◽

Medical Students ◽

Medical School ◽

Family Life ◽

Design Methodology ◽

Online Survey ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Content Type ◽

Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate perceptions towards a career in psychiatry among medical students and psychiatrists and identify how recruitment into the specialty may be improved. Design/methodology/approach This study locally compares medical student and psychiatric doctor responses to a structured online survey and structured interviews with key managerial figures in the Humber NHS Foundation Trust. Findings Comparison across two main areas (pre-decision exposure to psychiatry and reasons for considering a psychiatric career) found that both students and doctors were influenced to make a choice about a career in psychiatry during medical school. Medical students found compatibility with family life to be more important when considering psychiatry, whereas doctors cited content-based reasons as significant pull factors. Stigma and fear of being harmed deterred some students from choosing a career in psychiatry. Structured interview responses reiterated the importance of pre-medical school and undergraduate mentorship in bolstering future recruitment to psychiatry. Practical implications Medical students perceive certain career issues differently to their postgraduate counterparts. Widening the content-based appeal of psychiatry and optimising the medical school experience of the specialty via varied and high-quality placements may be a key step towards tackling the national shortfall in qualified psychiatrists. Originality/value This is the first published study comparing medical student and psychiatric doctor perceptions of a career in psychiatry.

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