Do medical schools care? Rethinking compassion within medical training

I have headed up student support in a medical school in Scotland for nigh on a decade, and I have spoken with hundreds of students struggling in one way or another with their progression through medicine. I have witnessed a growing level of anxiety and stress, with cohorts of keen, bright, enthusiastic, and committed young adults becoming more anxious, stressed, depressed, and cynical.Among medical students, rates of depression, anxiety, burnout, and stress are high.1 Following the covid-19 pandemic, wellbeing has remained at a concerningly low level for UK university students.2 Internationally, evidence confirms a picture of sub-par mental health among doctors to be.3 Poor mental wellbeing or burnout are linked with low self-worth, reduced empathy, medical errors, impaired professionalism, and higher rates of drop out from medicine.4 Personally, I saw frustration, panic, eating disorders, self-harm, attempts at suicide, failure, absence, and many repeat years. Gradually, I became convinced that a…
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