Medical students in distress: The impact of gender, race, debt, and disability

TL;DR

This study finds that over half of US medical students still experience distress, with new and existing risk factors like disability and debt contributing to poor wellbeing.

Contribution

The study identifies disability status as a novel risk factor for medical student distress in the modern era.

Findings

52.9% of surveyed medical students met criteria for distress.

Non-male gender, high debt, disability, and clinical phase of training were significant risk factors.

22% of students had considered or taken a leave of absence due to personal wellbeing concerns.

Abstract

In 2012, over half of US medical students experienced burnout and depression. Since that time, there have been many changes to student demographics, school resources and awareness of burnout in the medical field altogether. New tools are also available to screen for student distress, a condition that correlates with low mental quality-of-life, suicidal ideation and serious thoughts of dropping out. Despite increased attention on wellbeing and improved screening methods, no large-scale studies have evaluated student distress in the modern era of medical education. The objective of this study was to determine the current prevalence of medical student distress and contributing risk factors.

Student wellbeing from a national cohort of US medical students was measured with an electronic survey in a prospective, observational survey study from 2019–2020. Medical student distress was defined as a Medical Student Wellbeing Index (MS-WBI) of ≥4. Demographic details including age, race, gender, marital status, disability, desired specialty, and debt burden were evaluated in a multivariate logistic regression model to determine possible risk factors for the development of distress.

A total of 3,162 students responded to the survey, representing 110 unique medical schools. Of these respondents, 52.9% met criteria for distress and 22% had either taken or considered taking a leave of absence for personal wellbeing. Independent risk factors for distress included involvement in the clinical phase of medical school (OR 1.37); non-male gender (OR 1.6); debt burden >$20,000 (OR 1.37), >$100,000 (OR 1.81), and >$300,000 (OR 1.96); and disability status (OR 1.84).

Medical student wellbeing remains poor in the modern era of medical education despite increased attention to wellbeing and increased availability of wellbeing resources. Disability status is a novel risk factor for distress identified in this study. The persistence of previously identified risk factors such as non-male gender, debt burden and clinical phase of school suggest that efforts to curb medical student distress have been inadequate to date.

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