Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, NJ, USA.
BMC Med Educ. 2023 Dec 19;23(1):971. doi: 10.1186/s12909-023-04946-2.
The prevalence of mental health struggles among students in medical school is widely reported; however, little is known about how it is impacted by the medical school curriculum. This study aimed to evaluate differences in anxiety, depression, and emotional exhaustion in medical students based on gender, class year, and curriculum.
An anonymous online survey consisting of questions from established, validated questionnaires about demographics, anxiety, depression, emotional exhaustion, and personal health behaviors was sent to 817 medical students who attended Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine during the Spring of 2021. When applying to this school, each of these students had the option to choose either the problem-based learning (PBL) or lecture-based learning (LBL) curriculum track.
The survey was completed by 222 students. Females experienced higher levels of anxiety, depression, and emotional exhaustion than males. Students in the PBL had lower levels of emotional exhaustion than their peers in the LBL. Increase in emotional exhaustion was most pronounced between 1st and 2nd year students. Emotional exhaustion was inversely correlated with sleep and exercise.
On average, students who were either male or in the PBL curriculum experienced less mental distress in the form of anxiety, depression, and emotional exhaustion than their peers. While gender continues to be an established factor in how mental distress is experienced, the reduced levels of emotional exhaustion in PBL students is a novel finding that can potentially shed light on how to better optimize medical education. Despite the inherent selection bias and lower number of PBL students, to our knowledge, this is the first study comparing two different curricula within a single institution. This finding along with a focus on good sleep and exercise habits may provide a path for improving mental health in medical students.
医学院学生的心理健康问题普遍存在，但对于其如何受到医学院课程的影响，知之甚少。本研究旨在评估基于性别、年级和课程的医学生焦虑、抑郁和情绪疲惫的差异。
我们向 2021 年春季在罗文-虚拟骨科医学院就读的 817 名医学生发送了一份匿名在线调查，其中包括来自已建立的、经过验证的关于人口统计学、焦虑、抑郁、情绪疲惫和个人健康行为的问卷。申请这所学校时，这些学生中的每一位都可以选择基于问题的学习（PBL）或基于讲座的学习（LBL）课程。
有 222 名学生完成了调查。女性的焦虑、抑郁和情绪疲惫程度高于男性。在 PBL 中的学生的情绪疲惫程度低于在 LBL 中的同龄人。情绪疲惫在 1 年级和 2 年级学生之间的增加最为明显。情绪疲惫与睡眠和运动呈负相关。
平均而言，无论是男性还是 PBL 课程的学生，其焦虑、抑郁和情绪疲惫等精神困扰的程度都低于同龄人。虽然性别仍然是影响精神困扰的一个既定因素，但 PBL 学生的情绪疲惫水平降低是一个新的发现，这可能有助于阐明如何更好地优化医学教育。尽管存在内在的选择偏差和 PBL 学生人数较少的情况，但据我们所知，这是首次在单个机构内比较两种不同课程的研究。这一发现以及对良好睡眠和运动习惯的关注，可能为改善医学生的心理健康提供了一条途径。
