Can an Arts Course Help Mitigate Medical Student Burnout?

INTRODUCTION: Burnout in healthcare providers begins early, with about half of medical students experiencing symptoms of burnout, and as many as one-quarter experiencing depression. While organizational, systemic-level changes certainly contribute to mitigation, organizationally sponsored individual...

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Autores principales: Volpe, Rebecca L., de Boer, Claire, Wasserman, Emily, Van Scoy, Lauren Jodi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer US 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9361955/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35966164
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40670-022-01604-y
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author Volpe, Rebecca L.
de Boer, Claire
Wasserman, Emily
Van Scoy, Lauren Jodi
author_facet Volpe, Rebecca L.
de Boer, Claire
Wasserman, Emily
Van Scoy, Lauren Jodi
author_sort Volpe, Rebecca L.
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Burnout in healthcare providers begins early, with about half of medical students experiencing symptoms of burnout, and as many as one-quarter experiencing depression. While organizational, systemic-level changes certainly contribute to mitigation, organizationally sponsored individual-level changes may also play a significant role. Although the nature of the burnout epidemic and its impact on trainee wellness is fairly well understood, and interventions have been studied, there remains a gap in the empirical research examining the impact of the arts on medical student well-being. METHODS: We designed a convergent mixed methods study to evaluate whether a 9-month course for fourth-year medical students called Art as Self Care (AASC) would help trainees develop habits that supported their well-being. An online survey was used to collect data at the beginning and end of each academic year on two consecutive cohorts of students. A focus group explored students’ experience with and perceptions about the course. RESULTS: Qualitative results indicated that the AASC course provided positive distraction that is calming and allowed students to shift focus from the stresses of daily medical school life. Our quantitative results suggest that art might provide a slight protective effect in medical students: whereas 22% of the non-AASC students saw a worsening of their psychological distress across the fourth year of medical school, this was observed in only 13% of the AASC students. DISCUSSION: Our study presents pilot and feasibility data to better inform future research and practice around the use of art to support medical student well-being. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-022-01604-y.
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spelling pubmed-93619552022-08-10 Can an Arts Course Help Mitigate Medical Student Burnout? Volpe, Rebecca L. de Boer, Claire Wasserman, Emily Van Scoy, Lauren Jodi Med Sci Educ Original Research INTRODUCTION: Burnout in healthcare providers begins early, with about half of medical students experiencing symptoms of burnout, and as many as one-quarter experiencing depression. While organizational, systemic-level changes certainly contribute to mitigation, organizationally sponsored individual-level changes may also play a significant role. Although the nature of the burnout epidemic and its impact on trainee wellness is fairly well understood, and interventions have been studied, there remains a gap in the empirical research examining the impact of the arts on medical student well-being. METHODS: We designed a convergent mixed methods study to evaluate whether a 9-month course for fourth-year medical students called Art as Self Care (AASC) would help trainees develop habits that supported their well-being. An online survey was used to collect data at the beginning and end of each academic year on two consecutive cohorts of students. A focus group explored students’ experience with and perceptions about the course. RESULTS: Qualitative results indicated that the AASC course provided positive distraction that is calming and allowed students to shift focus from the stresses of daily medical school life. Our quantitative results suggest that art might provide a slight protective effect in medical students: whereas 22% of the non-AASC students saw a worsening of their psychological distress across the fourth year of medical school, this was observed in only 13% of the AASC students. DISCUSSION: Our study presents pilot and feasibility data to better inform future research and practice around the use of art to support medical student well-being. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-022-01604-y. Springer US 2022-07-30 /pmc/articles/PMC9361955/ /pubmed/35966164 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40670-022-01604-y Text en © The Author(s) under exclusive licence to International Association of Medical Science Educators 2022, Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
spellingShingle Original Research
Volpe, Rebecca L.
de Boer, Claire
Wasserman, Emily
Van Scoy, Lauren Jodi
Can an Arts Course Help Mitigate Medical Student Burnout?
title Can an Arts Course Help Mitigate Medical Student Burnout?
title_full Can an Arts Course Help Mitigate Medical Student Burnout?
title_fullStr Can an Arts Course Help Mitigate Medical Student Burnout?
title_full_unstemmed Can an Arts Course Help Mitigate Medical Student Burnout?
title_short Can an Arts Course Help Mitigate Medical Student Burnout?
title_sort can an arts course help mitigate medical student burnout?
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9361955/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35966164
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40670-022-01604-y
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