Starting Off on the Right Foot

Purpose: The stressors associated with medical school result in mental health and/or academic challenges for some students. For instance, students report more mental health problems while in medical school than they do before beginning their medical education. 1 Additionally, due to the difficulty and volume of content, many face academic challenges for the first time. This presentation will describe the acceptability of prevention programs for first-year medical students (Med-1s) from 2 medical schools. Approach: At Ohio State University College of Medicine, a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Skills program was developed for Med-1s (N = 201). The program consisted of 4 mandatory sessions. Topics addressed included: the cognitive model, Socratic questioning, mindfulness of thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations, and values and committed action. A modified version of the Treatment Acceptability/Adherence, 2 which is a 7-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7), was sent to students after the first and fourth sessions to evaluate acceptability. At the University of Illinois College of Medicine–Rockford (UICOM), an optional Virtual Summer Book Club was provided for entering Med-1s. Participants reviewed Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning. 3 Five small group sessions emphasized the importance of self-reflection to identify academic strengths and areas of opportunity, the science of learning, innovative learning strategies, and connecting with resources. An evaluation was sent to students after completion. Student Affairs Cares is a program at UICOM that hosts events to encourage self-care. Events included a variety of wellness activities such as crafts, fun events, therapy dogs, yoga, and meditation. Outcome data were collected informally. Outcomes: All 3 prevention programs received positive acceptability ratings formally and/or informally. On average, students agreed that the Universal CBT Skills program was effective in providing them with strategies to cope with stressors in medical school after session 1 (n = 44, x = 5.86, s = 0.87) and session 4 (n = 25, x = 4.84, s = 1.59). At the end of the program, students agreed that the program should be offered yearly (n = 25, x = 5.36, s = 1.52). An evaluation of the book club (n = 15) indicated that 100% of students agreed that the programming helped them reflect on their study strategies. Further, 86.7% of students agreed that they were more aware of their strength as learners and 100% agreed that the book club helped them identify strategies for their Med-1 year. Finally, informal feedback indicated that students enjoyed and felt supported by the content provided through Student Affairs Cares. Discussion: Mental health and academic challenges are common during medical school. 1 These challenges can result in academic failures, delayed graduation, and mental health problems. The development of programs to prevent these difficulties would likely be an optimal place to devote time and resources if these programs are accepted and lead to improved outcomes throughout medical school. Med-1s found the mental health, academic, and wellness prevention programs acceptable regardless of whether the program was mandatory (e.g., Universal CBT Skills) or voluntary (e.g., Virtual Summer Book Club). Given students find these programs acceptable, future research evaluating the efficacy of these programs in reducing academic and mental health problems throughout medical school should be conducted. Significance: There is a paucity of data on mental health and academic prevention services for Med-1s. This presentation introduces data that indicate Med-1s find both mandatory and voluntary prevention programs acceptable laying the groundwork for future studies examining the efficacy of these approaches. Carol Lay, Clinical Psychologist and Consultant for University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford Learning Specialist Team, and Matthew Strobel Program Assistant for Student Affairs for the University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford

Likert scale · Medical education · Mental health · Psychiatry · Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout · Innovations in Medical Education · Medical Education and Admissions · Medicine · Psychology