Burnout syndrome and resilience in medical students from a Brazilian public college in Salvador, Brazil

INTRODUCTION: Burnout syndrome is highly prevalent among medical students. Whereas burnout syndrome has been associated with negative outcomes, like suicidal ideation, protective factors are still unknown. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if there is an association between burnout syndrome and resilience in medical students, assessing covariates such as depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and religiosity. METHOD: This cross-sectional study was carried out with a sample of 209 students from a medical school in Brazil. Burnout syndrome was assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory – Student Survey. Potential protective factors and aggravators to burnout syndrome were investigated using appropriate scales. RESULTS: Fifty-nine students (28.2%) presented burnout. Multivariate analysis showed that resilience was a protective factor (p < 0.001), along with being older, married or having better academic performance. Depressive symptoms were positively associated with burnout. Religiosity was not a protective factor and suicidal ideation was not associated with burnout when adjusted for depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: Burnout is frequent among medical students, impacting mental health and academic performance. Resilience seems to be a protective factor, and the relationship between burnout and suicidal ideation is possibly mediated by depressive symptoms. Prospective studies are needed to further investigate the associations found in this study.