K. Mongrain is a resident physician in family medicine, Queen's University School of Medicine, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
A. Simmons is a resident physician in psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Acad Med. 2022 Aug 1;97(8):1170-1174. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000004704. Epub 2022 Jul 21.
Medical students experience high levels of burnout and face barriers to accessing support services. However, few studies have considered the feasibility and/or effectiveness of one-on-one peer support programs for medical students. This report aims to describe the development and implementation of such a program, the Side-by-Side Peer Support Program, at the University of Ottawa (August 2018-June 2020).
Thirty-five medical students enrolled at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine were selected to participate in a training course aimed at developing the skills necessary to provide one-on-one support to their peers. The main responsibilities of peer supporters were to reach out to classmates, particularly those displaying changes in their usual behavior that might be indicative of mental illness, to provide basic counseling, and to refer at-risk students to professional services. Peer supporters offered weekly hours during which classmates could contact them for support. Information on interactions between students and peer supporters was recorded in an electronic database. An end-of-year survey collected information on barriers to seeking help perceived by medical students.
A total of 303 interactions were recorded. Interactions took place in various formats, including in-person, via telephone or video call, or via texting or online messaging. Interactions were initiated by both students and peer supporters. Survey respondents identified more barriers to seeking help from Faculty of Medicine services than Side-by-Side, including fear of impact on career (22.2% vs 2.5%; P < .01) and belief that the services would not be helpful (42.0% vs 23.5%; P = .02).
The authors plan to quantify well-being through academic engagement metrics as well as mental health outcome metrics in future studies. Future studies should also consider whether peer support increases help-seeking behaviors and/or the use of professional services.
医学生经历高水平的倦怠，并且面临获得支持服务的障碍。然而，很少有研究考虑过一对一的医学生朋辈支持计划的可行性和/或效果。本报告旨在描述这样一个项目——渥太华大学的朋辈支持项目（2018 年 8 月至 2020 年 6 月）的开发和实施情况。
35 名在渥太华大学医学院就读的医学生被选中参加一项培训课程，旨在培养向同龄人提供一对一支持所需的技能。朋辈支持者的主要职责是联系同学，特别是那些行为发生变化的同学，这些变化可能表明他们患有精神疾病，为他们提供基本的咨询，并将有风险的学生转介给专业服务机构。朋辈支持者每周提供一定的工作时间，同学可以在这段时间内向他们寻求支持。学生和朋辈支持者之间的互动信息记录在一个电子数据库中。在年底的调查中，收集了医学生认为寻求帮助存在的障碍的信息。
共记录了 303 次互动。互动以各种形式进行，包括面对面、电话或视频通话、短信或在线消息。互动由学生和朋辈支持者共同发起。调查受访者发现，与朋辈支持相比，他们更倾向于向医学院服务寻求帮助的障碍，包括担心对职业的影响（22.2%比 2.5%；P <.01）和认为服务不会有帮助（42.0%比 23.5%；P =.02）。
作者计划在未来的研究中通过学术参与指标和心理健康结果指标来衡量幸福感。未来的研究还应考虑朋辈支持是否会增加寻求帮助的行为和/或专业服务的使用。
