We Burn Out, We Break, We Die
Medical Schools Must Change Their Culture to Preserve Medical Student Mental Health
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21615500 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christopher Thomas Veal (0000-0001-6408-7713, C.T. Vealis a fourth-year medical student, University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont; ORCID:., corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 96 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 629-631 |
| Publication date | 2021-05-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| 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.0000000000003991 |
| PMID | 33570856 |
| OpenAlex | W3128942101 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 11 |
| References cited | 8 |
The author explores medical student depression and suicide through the lens of the author’s personal struggle during the first 2 years of medical school. While the author’s story is unique, other medical students have also faced challenges that have led them to consider a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Although resources are available, stigma represents a significant barrier for students as they decide whether to seek help. Students fear that showing the slightest hint of vulnerability or imperfection will be used against them in an advancement committee, a course evaluation, or the dean’s letter for residency applications. This difficulty asking for help and the subsequent suppression of feelings can lead to burnout and ultimately to increased risk of suicide. The author calls for medical schools to make changes to their culture to preserve medical student mental health. These include committing to helping students who are struggling academically or psychologically, implementing an institution-wide program to screen for individuals at risk for suicide, educating members of the institution’s community about depression to destigmatize seeking help for mental health, and ensuring confidential mental health services are readily available to those who need them. But, most importantly, medical schools must create a culture that normalizes the need for self-care and includes vulnerability as part of training in professionalism
Burnout · Confidentiality · Feeling · Institution · Medical education · Medical emergency · Mental health · Poison control · Political science · Psychiatry · Sociology · Suicidal ideation · Suicide prevention · Clinical Psychology · Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout · Innovations in Medical Education · Medical Education and Admissions · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Social Psychology
Gender differences in attitudes towards psychological help-seeking among chinese medical students
Graduação em medicina e as Práticas Integrativas e Complementares em Saúde
First Aid for Mental Health
Signs, Sources, Coping Strategies, and Suggested Interventions for Burnout Among Preclerkship Students at a U.S. Medical School
In Reply to Kandola and Minhas
Breaking the Silence
Courage and Mental Health
Learner Experiences of Preceptor Self-Disclosure of Personal Illness in Medical Education
Making space for disability studies within a structurally competent medical curriculum
Predictors of personal depression stigma in medical students in China
The role of arts-based curricula in professional identity formation
| Citations per year | 2.2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2021 - 2024 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |