The Mental Health of Medical Students: Supporting Wellbeing in Medical Education

Medical students are the medical workforce of the future, responsible for both individual and population health. With an ageing global population, changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the increased computerisation and roboticization of medicine, doctors will require ever more flexibility, foresight, and courage going forward. It is crucial that their training equips them for the challenges ahead. However, recent research has found worryingly high levels of stress and burnout amongst these individuals, leading to more students dropping out or leaving the profession early.

This volume presents research findings on the rates of burnout in medical students from around the world and provides ideas for a model of care to help educators and individuals take steps towards better student wellbeing. The first section covers the development of medical teaching, likely future directions of healthcare and the role of doctors, the current global situation in high-, middle-, and low- income countries, and how we measure and define burnout. The second section analyses case studies from countries across the globe, reviewing regional themes of burnout, mental health symptoms, and stressors. The third section hears from the medical students themselves, considers circumstances such as studying abroad, or studying with health conditions, and looks at potential interventions and good practice for the future, including the role of the universities and institutions, and advice to medical students on how to look after themselves.

A truly international collaboration with a focus on medical student mental health and wellbeing, this book will be of interest to medical education professionals, occupational health physicians, and medical practitioners, as well as researchers, medical students, and trainees.

Andrew Molodynski, Consultant Psychiatrist, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and Honorary Senior Lecturer, Oxford University, Oxford, UK, and Secretary General, World Association of Social Psychiatry, UK, Sarah Marie Farrell, Academic Clinical Fellow in Neurosurgery, Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK, Dinesh Bhugra, Professor Emeritus of Mental Health and Cultural Diversity, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Kings College London, London, UK

Andrew Molodynski is a Consultant Psychiatrist at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, and Honorary Senior Lecturer at Oxford University, UK. He has worked in community psychiatry for 20 years and been actively involved in research in the field for 15. He is the mental health lead for the British Medical Association Consultants Committee and Secretary General of the World Association of Social Psychiatry.

Sarah Marie Farrell is an Academic Clinical Fellow in Neurosurgery working at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, UK. She holds a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Oxford. She has published work in the realms of medical student wellbeing, dopamine and the prefrontal cortex, and pain and the autonomic nervous system.

Dinesh Bhugra is Professor Emeritus of Mental Health and Cultural Diversity in the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, at Kings College London, UK. He has (co)edited and (co)authored over 40 books, including the Oxford Textbook of Public Mental Health (OUP) which won the British Medical Award (BMA) Book of the Year in Psychiatry in 2019, and Practical Cultural Psychiatry (OUP) which was highly commended in the same year. He was President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists from 2008-2011, the World Psychiatric Association from 2014-2017, and the British Medical Association from 2018-2019.