Theyre likely alreadyburnt out, but now its time to hit the ground running.
New studies have shown that first-year medical residents are facing increased mental health risks.
Falling short here may lead to students feeling invalidated or that the entire experience was for naught.
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Emotionally, students may feelhopeless, exhausted,burnt out, anxious, or depressed.
They looked specifically at the mental health of first-year residents, also commonly referred to as interns.
The first study was fromJAMA Surgeryand looked at the prevalence and span of depression experienced by first-year residents.
Researchers found surgical interns had a higher likelihood of developing depression than doctors in other disciplines.
Surgical interns werent the only group of first-year residents found to have higher levels of depression.
This distinction was especially prevalent in the second half of the year.
So you have to come in understanding that the healthcare system is just as broken as other systems.
Workloads should be realistic given the students developmental level, experience, and availability.
Supervision should be consistent.
If an intern is struggling, it should be discussed in a safe space.
TheJAMA Surgerystudy found that only 26.5% of residents who experienced new on-set depression sought mental health care.
Hughes TM, Waljee JF, Fang Y, Sen S, Bohnert A.New-onset depression among surgical interns.JAMA Surg.
2022;3(4):e220812.
