Emotional Burden in Third-Year Medical Students During the Neurology Clerkship
Sydney Short1, Saadia Akhtar1, Mallory Johnson1, Lillian Sims2, Kimberly Jones3
1University of Kentucky College of Medicine, 2Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, 3University Of Kentucky Dept of Neurology
Objective:
To determine the presence of emotional burden in third-year medical students during the neurology clerkship.
Background:
Secondary trauma, burnout, and emotional burden have been identified among neurologists in every stage of training. However, minimal research has been conducted to assess if these issues could begin as early as medical school. Medical students experience a rapid increase in clinical exposure during third-year clerkships, and their exposure to distressing cases has been shown to vary depending on the specialty in which they are rotating.
Design/Methods:
An IRB-approved survey was sent to 6 cohorts of third-year students at a single MD-granting institution (1 main and 3 satellite campuses) at the conclusion of their combined neurology/emergency medicine clerkship. This study utilized the ProQOL questionnaire- a tool commonly used to assess burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary trauma in healthcare providers. Additionally, there were questions pertaining to trauma history, emotional burden, coping mechanisms, and suggested curricular changes to gain insights into students' emotional experiences during the clerkship. Participants received $10 compensation upon survey completion.
Results:
Of the 100 survey respondents, 11.3% reported emotional exhaustion during this rotation. However, four common themes of emotional burden were observed among respondents. These included witnessing patient harm or death (34.5%), experiencing empathy burden (30.9%), feeling helpless as a student (27.3%), and having a history of personal trauma (7.3%). Interestingly, emotional exhaustion was reported by 75% of students who sometimes felt prepared to handle emotionally distressing cases and only 2.7% who always felt prepared.
Conclusions:
While emotional exhaustion was not seen in the majority of participants during the neurology clerkship, the data highlighted common factors that contribute to this issue in medical students. Institutions can use this data to make curriculum alterations that target these themes and better prepare students to tackle emotionally taxing cases and thus decrease emotional burden in this population.
Disclaimer: Abstracts were not reviewed by Neurology® and do not reflect the views of Neurology® editors or staff.