Mental health in medical students: time to act

Abstract

Summary Background Mental health problems are prevalent amongst medical students. However, many students delay seeking medical help or support from the medical school for a variety of reasons, including a fear of facing fitness to practice proceedings. Tackling this problem of awareness and delayed presentation will need a strong and dedicated focus at all stages, with prevention being of great importance. Methods A conference dedicated to mental health and well‐being was organised for students of all years. The first part of the conference centred on well‐being dilemmas and the second part focused on discussing important issues in small group sessions. Results Students were divided into eight groups and each group suggested improvements to the course that they felt would improve mental health and well‐being. The main suggestions raised were: reassurance that the disclosure of mental health problems would not automatically result in fitness to practice proceedings; separate academic and pastoral roles of tutors; open up the topic of mental health and well‐being more frequently during the programme; improve knowledge about the availability of support services; and have mentors who are at an earlier stage in postgraduate training (e.g. junior doctors). Discussion It is necessary to tackle the prevalent myths about this topic. Many students are unaware of the support services available. This conference has therefore sought to increase awareness of the topic. An approach is also now needed to identify those who need extra help. The authors strongly advocate opening up this topic throughout the course in the context of a dedicated conference, for example.

COVID-19 and mental health: A systematic review of international medical student surveys

“…Students have been forced to amend their learning and studying styles, while academic institutions have similarly been strained with the responsibility of changing their previously well-established education curriculum and mode of delivery (Al Samaraee, 2020). Medical education has been notoriously considered as one of the foremost rigorous and demanding academic journeys, with great potential to induce outstanding psychological stress in a medical student (Backović et al, 2013;Awad et al, 2019;Quek et al, 2019). Medical institutions globally have taken significant consideration into documenting how their students have been impacted, but institutions in the United States have been less proactive in the process.…”

Latent class analysis of depression and anxiety among medical students during COVID-19 epidemic

“…College students must reduce the frequency of their outings, resulting in their inability to participate in social activities, which may affect their learning progress and exacerbate their anxiety and depression. Therefore, the mental health status of medical students is of great concern to medical universities [ 9 ].…”

Piloting an Innovative Concept of e–Mental Health and mHealth Workshops With Medical Students Using a Participatory Co-design Approach and App Prototyping: Case Study

“…However, medical students may not be particularly interested in apps that are exclusively designed for them; rather, they might be interested in apps that are designed for students in general. Medical students are at high risk for certain mental illnesses [ 30 , 50 , 51 ], and their lack of help-seeking behavior is of great concern [ 52 ]. Thus, it is important to increase the adoption of psychological services, including early interventions, for example, by offering mental health apps.…”