Department of Urgent Psychiatry, University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapče, 10090 Zagreb, Croatia.
School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jan 26;19(3):1385. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19031385.
Burnout is a common mental problem in medical students. For those who are following medical studies abroad there is a higher risk of suffering this syndrome, due to the combination of academic stress and the stress derived from their new living situation. This study was performed with the purpose of testing the following hypothesis: in medical students enrolled in medical programs abroad, abilities associated with professionalism and family support play a protective role in the prevention of suffering burnout.
A cross-sectional study was performed in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Zagreb, where a fully English medical program is offered. The general version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-GS) was used as a dependent variable, while Jefferson Scales of empathy, teamwork, and physician lifelong learning and the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults were used as predictive variables. In addition, information related to sex, country of birth, native language, age, academic achievement, and living situation were collected in a socio-demographic form. Linear regression models were applied to identify predictors of burnout.
In a sample composed of 188 medical students (38 Croatians and 144 foreigners from 28 countries), 18% of the global score in the MBI-GS was explained by lifelong learning and family loneliness. A separate analysis for each domain of the MBI-GS allowed the creation of three models: the first model explained 19% of the variance of the "exhaustion" domain by "country of birth", "living with parents", "academic year", and "cynicism"; a second model explained 24% of the variance of the "cynicism" domain by "academic year", "empathy", "lifelong learning", and "exhaustion"; and finally, a third model explained 24% of the variance of the "professional efficacy" domain by "lifelong learning", "family loneliness", and "cynicism". All obtained models presented an effect size between medium and large, as well as matching the required conditions for statistical inference.
These findings confirm the important role that family plays as a source of support for medical students. Empathy and lifelong learning, two specific elements of medical professionalism, appear as protective factors in the prevention of burnout in international students.
burnout 是医学生中常见的心理问题。对于那些在国外攻读医学专业的人来说，由于学术压力和新的生活环境压力的结合，他们更容易患上这种综合征。本研究旨在检验以下假设：在国外攻读医学课程的医学生中，与专业精神和家庭支持相关的能力在预防 burnout 方面发挥保护作用。
在萨格勒布大学医学院进行了一项横断面研究，该学院提供全英文医学课程。使用 Maslach 倦怠量表（MBI-GS）的一般版本作为因变量，而同理心、团队合作、医生终身学习和成人社会情感孤独感量表则作为预测变量。此外，还在社会人口学表格中收集了与性别、出生地、母语、年龄、学业成绩和生活状况相关的信息。应用线性回归模型来确定 burnout 的预测因素。
在由 188 名医学生（38 名克罗地亚人和 144 名来自 28 个国家的外国人）组成的样本中，MBI-GS 的全球得分的 18% 由终身学习和家庭孤独感解释。对 MBI-GS 的每个领域进行单独分析，创建了三个模型：第一个模型通过“出生地”、“与父母同住”、“学年”和“犬儒主义”解释了“疲惫”领域的 19%的方差；第二个模型通过“学年”、“同理心”、“终身学习”和“犬儒主义”解释了“犬儒主义”领域的 24%的方差；最后，第三个模型通过“终身学习”、“家庭孤独感”和“犬儒主义”解释了“专业效能”领域的 24%的方差。所有获得的模型都表现出中等至较大的效应量，并且符合统计推断的要求条件。
这些发现证实了家庭作为医学生支持来源的重要作用。同理心和终身学习，医学专业精神的两个特定要素，作为国际学生预防 burnout 的保护因素出现。
