ArticleBMC medical education2021
A longitudinal investigation of mental health, perceived learning environment and burdens in a cohort of first-year German medical students' before and during the COVID-19 'new normal'.
Article in BMC medical education, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Procrastination in medical students: a systematic review.Canadian medical education journal · 2026Pooled it
- Impact of COVID-19 mitigations on anxiety and depression amongst university students: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of global health · 2023Pooled it
- Online programs to strengthen the mental health of medical students: A systematic review of the literature.Medical education online · 2022Pooled it
- Factors Associated with Burnout in Medical Students: An Exploration of Demographic, Academic, and Psychological Variables.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The Role of Optimism and Self-Efficacy in the Relationship between Academic Stress and Depressive Symptoms in Medical Students Including the Use and Knowledge of Structural Health Promotion Offers.Medical science educator · 2025Article
- Uncovering heterogeneity in mental health changes among first-year medical students.Medical education online · 2024Article
- Anxiety and Depression Disorders in Undergraduate Medical Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Integrative Literature Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Review
- Development and implementation of digital peer mentoring in small groups for first-year medical students.GMS journal for medical education · 2024Article
- Academic climate and psychopathological symptomatology in Spanish medical students.BMC medical education · 2023Article
- COVID and depression among stratified population groups: a narrative review.European journal of medical research · 2023Review
- Examining the Effect of Virtual Learning on Canadian Pre-Clerkship Medical Student Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Perspectives on medical education · 2023Article
- Implementation context and burnout among Department of Veterans Affairs psychotherapists prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of affective disorders · 2023Article
- The lived experiences of health science graduate students with anxiety and depression.Learning environments research · 2022Article
- Psychological Impact of the 2022 Round COVID-19 Pandemic on China's College Students.Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University (science) · 2022Article
- Perception of Current Educational Environment, Clinical Competency, and Depression among Malaysian Medical Students in Clinical Clerkship: A Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- The Consequences of the Pandemic on Medical Students' Depressive Symptoms and Perceived Stress: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Survey with a Nested Longitudinal Subsample.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- The Association between COVID-19 Pandemic and the Quality of Life of Medical Students in Silesian Voivodeship, Poland.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Empathy alleviates the learning burnout of medical college students through enhancing resilience.BMC medical education · 2022Article
- First-Year College Students' Mental Health in the Post-COVID-19 Era in Guangxi, China: A Study Demands-Resources Model Perspective.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- The mediating role of general academic emotions in burnout and procrastination among Chinese medical undergraduates during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMedical students' propensity to develop mental morbidity has been described for decades but remains unresolved. To assess student mental health person-centred and longitudinally, we have been investigating a cohort of German students since October 2019. After their first semester under 'normal' conditions, rapid changes became necessary due to the COVID-19 situation. In line with the initial aim, we investigated students' change of mental health, perceived learning environment and burdens in the 'new normal'.
methodsStudents in a newly founded German medical study programme (n = 63) answered a questionnaire each semester (October 2019 = entering medical school; December 2019 = 'old normal'; June 2020 = 'new normal'; December 2020 = 'new normal') on their well-being (FAHW-12), burnout (Maslach Inventory), depression (PHQ-9), perception of the learning environment (DREEM), burdens and protective attitudes in the 'new normal' (items designed for the study).
resultsFriedman tests reveal overall significant differences (all p < .001) in depression and burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, personal accomplishment); changes in well-being were identified as just non-significant (p = .05). The effects were explained by a significant increase in burnout and depression identified post-hoc from October 2019 to December 2019. No increase in severity was identified in the 'new normal' semesters. The learning environment was perceived positively even with a significant improvement for June 2020 (repeated measures ANOVA p < .001). Study-related burdens (e.g. procrastination of online-learning material) took on greater relevance than burdens related to physicians' occupation (e.g. potential for students' recruitment to the healthcare system during their studies).
conclusionsThe 'new' when entering medical school had a greater impact on our students' mental health than the 'new normal'. The readiness for change in the context of a newly designed study programme may have been beneficial with regard to students' positively perceived learning environment during the virtual semesters. Monitoring medical students' mental health longitudinally should be a concern regardless of a pandemic.
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