Impostor syndrome and burnout among American medical students: a pilot study

OBJECTIVES: To describe levels of burnout and impostor syndrome (IS) in medical students, and to recognize demographic differences in those experiencing burnout and IS. METHODS: Research participants included 2,612 medical students who entered Jefferson Medical College between 2002 and 2012. This sample was divided into two groups: Matriculants between 2002 and 2007 (n=1,380) and between 2008 and 2012 (n=1,232). Data for 2002-2007 matriculants were subjected to EFA (principal component factor extraction), and data for matriculants of 2008-2012 were used for CFA (structural equation modeling, and root mean square error for approximation). RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-eight students completed the questionnaire. Female gender was significantly associated with IS (χ(2)((3))=10.6, p=0.004) with more than double the percentage of females displaying IS than their male counterparts (49.4% of females versus 23.7% of males). IS was significantly associated with the burnout components of exhaustion (χ(2) ((2))=5.9, p=0.045), cynicism (χ(2)((2))=9.4, p=0.004), emotional exhaustion (χ(2)((2))=8.0, p=0.018), and depersonalization (χ(2) ((2))=10.3, p=0.006). The fourth year of medical school was significantly associated with IS (χ(2)((3))=10.5, p=0.015). CONCLUSIONS: Almost a quarter of male medical students and nearly half of female students experience IS and IS was found to be significantly associated with burnout indices. Given the high psychological morbidity of these conditions, this association cannot be ignored. It behooves us to reconsider facets of medical education (i.e. shame-based learning and overall teaching style) and optimize the medical learning environment.