HSC Education Days
Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
9-28-2018
Abstract
This project was inspired by the suicide of a PGY II Internal Medicine resident. Medical students, residents, and physicians are reluctant to disclose or seek help for their own mental health concerns.Physicians and trainees suffer in silence because of the fear of being stigmatized, concerns about medical licensing and credentialing, and the challenges of accessing confidential care. In the aftermath of our colleagues’ suicide, we were motivated to provide a forum for students to discuss their personal struggles with mental illness. Although matriculating medical students are less depressed, less burned out, and have higher quality of life scores than their age-matched peers, they are more depressed and burned out than their age-matched peers by the time of graduation.The prevalence of depression in medical students is 27.2%. Our hope was to empower students to share their stories, feel less alone in their struggles, and seek the help that they may potentially need.
Recommended Citation
Medina, Jessie and Elizabeth Lawrence. "Mental Health in Medical School:Students Share Their Stories." (2018). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hsc_ed_day/23
Comments
This poster was presented during the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center Education Day, 2018.