The development of professional identity is an important process during student training in the health care professions. Many professionals experience a degree of imposter syndrome, where they feel that they do not have the ability to perform in their role and will eventually be exposed as a fraud. This can reduce confidence and impact on the wellness of the individual, leading to higher levels of stress and burnout. The articles discussed here explore recent research into the impact of imposter syndrome, and explore methods of reducing the effect of imposter syndrome on wellness.Houseknecht et al. investigated changes in professional identity, wellness, calling to medicine (i.e. a sense of purpose and a desire to contribute to the greater good) and imposter phenomenon in medical students throughout their time at a medical school in the USA. 1 Students were surveyed on these factors at the start of their first three academic years. This study found that over time student wellness and feelings of professional identity decreased, and feelings of imposter syndrome increased. The students' sense of a calling to medicine did not change. Houseknecht et al. noted this finding to be concerning because of the association of these characteristics with distress and burnout. The author recommends the integration of wellness initiatives early in the curriculum and continuing these initiatives into the clinical years. The author does not outline specific initiatives but highlights the importance of promoting self-care. Additionally, the initiatives should address imposter syndrome directly. Houseknecht et al. conclude that if professional identity and wellness are promoted early then this can enhance the health of the future workforce.The factors contributing to burnout in nursing students, including professional self-concept (professional identity), were investigated by Wang et al. 2 They surveyed 1083 nursing students from two nursing colleges in China. They found that a poorer professional selfconcept was a significant negative indicator of the nursing students Samuel Rhys Gallagher reads the latest journals 1. Houseknecht V, Roman B, Stolfi A, Borges NJ. A longitudinal assessment of professional identity, wellness, imposter phenomenon, and calling to medicine among medical students. Med Sci Educ 2019. https ://doi.
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