How are Medical Institutions Supporting the Well-being of Undergraduate Students? A Scoping Review

Abstract

Introduction Medical students experience significant stress and impacts on mood due to multiple factors. Unmitigated stress impacts both physical and mental health while increasing the risk of unethical behavior. It is important for medical institutions to identify strategies that effectively reduce perceived stress and improve the well-being of their students. Methods The authors undertook a scoping review of the literature to identify strategies implemented by medical educational programs to improve the well-being of medical students. Results Of 1068 articles identified, 19 studies met the inclusion criteria. Interventions were categorized as mindfulness-based programs, reflection groups, curriculum changes, and ‘miscellaneous.’ All studies assessed outcomes of student stress/resilience, as well as additional domains including academic performance, mental health, and interpersonal skills. Some also assessed the acceptability of the intervention to students. Conclusions Despite the heterogeneity of interventions and outcome measures, a clear theme emerged that institutionally-provided strategies to promote student well-being tend to be effective when students opt into the program. It was noted that adding mandatory content or activities to a medical program without creating adequate space or support for it can have the opposite effect. Further high quality intervention studies involving randomization, blinding and rigorous controls are warranted.

Safe space type interventions to generate well-being in university contexts and their effectiveness: a quick review of the literature

“…Por otro lado, el único estudio observacional incluído en la revisión "How are Medical Institutions Supporting the Well-being of Undergraduate Students? A Scoping Review" (14) no mostró beneficios; al contrario, se evidenció una disminución de la calidad de vida y sensación de bienestar un año después de las intervenciones. Las intervenciones electivas no centradas en mindfulness, que incluían terapia equina y promoción de actividad física, mostraron una reducción de los niveles de depresión, de la severidad y frecuencia del estrés, con un aumento de la sensación de diversión, mejoría en la relación con pares, así como crecimiento personal y desarrollo de herramientas de resiliencia.…”

Supporting Medical Student Wellness During a Pandemic: A Pilot Study of an Extra-Curricular Resilience-Promotion Program

“…The strengths of this study include the use of validated and quantifiable outcome measures, as well as the longer-term follow-up (this was rare in the studies identified in the previously mentioned scoping review 11 ). It was important to attempt to quantify lifestyle behaviours and correlate them to outcomes in order to explore them as potential mediators or confounders, particularly since these were relevant to the content of the program.…”