First Aid for Mental Health
Training for Medical Student Well-Being
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21615441 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hardeep Singh Kandola (0000-0001-5611-6924, Medical student, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom ; [email protected]), Sonica Minha (0000-0001-9271-8623, Medical student, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom ; [email protected]) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 97 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 320-320 |
| Publication date | 2022-03-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Academic Medicine (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1040-2446 • E-ISSN: 1938-808X |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1097/acm.0000000000004544 |
| PMID | 35212676 |
| OpenAlex | W4214511045 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
To the Editor: The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a reflective emphasis on mental health and well-being for individuals and society alike. We commend the exemplary courage displayed by Veal in openly sharing their personal experiences and reflections and agree medical school culture needs to change. 1 We recommend incorporating mental health awareness education into the medical curricula. As senior medical students, we are concerned about the stigma students experience when coping with mental distress and illness. 2 Medical students experience depression, anxiety, and burnout at higher rates than the general population. 2,3 The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated factors associated with mental distress, and for medical students, the uncertainty creates new challenges contributing to existing anxieties. 4 We propose that Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), a 2-day course that improves awareness and recognition of mental illness, 5 should be considered with the same parity as physical first aid and be incorporated into all medical curricula. MHFA has been shown to increase confidence in providing help to medical students in need, and more importantly, it decreases stigmatizing attitudes toward mental illness. 6 The latter is a known barrier amongst medical students to disclosing mental illness and accessing care. Our institute, Queen Mary University of London, has trained 82 staff members in MHFA, with over 30% in the School of Medicine and Dentistry. This directly improves student access to support in a familiar environment in addition to shifting cultural attitudes. An MHFA awareness half-day course is also delivered to selected medical students, which H.S.K. attended. It provides the tools for self-reflection on mental well-being and the confidence to commence conversations with peers. An unexpected benefit has been improved empathy and engagement with patients encountered during clinical placements where psychological comorbidities can often be evaded or overlooked. Urgent inclusion of MHFA in the curriculum is one avenue for supporting medical student mental well-being. We encourage more universities to engage proactively in recognizing mental health issues as students have much to share, 7 but no one is listening
Anxiety · Distress · First aid · Mental distress · Mental health · Mental illness · Psychological intervention · COVID-19 and Mental Health · Health, psychology, and well-being · Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
| Highly cited | No |
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