ArticleMedical education online2024
The experiences of students with mental health difficulties at medical school: a qualitative interview study.
Article in Medical education online, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Disclosing mental health in medical education: A global qualitative meta-synthesis.Medical education · 2026Pooled it
- Disease awareness and experience of adolescent depression patients: a meta-synthesis of qualitative studies.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Burnout symptoms, burnout rate, well-being, and academia-related stress factors in medical students : A study in two private medical schools in Austria.Neuropsychiatrie : Klinik, Diagnostik, Therapie und Rehabilitation : Organ der Gesellschaft Osterreichischer Nervenarzte und Psychiater · 2026Article
- The influence of peer support on medical students' professional psychological help-seeking intention: the chain mediating role of professional psychological help-seeking stigma and self-efficacy.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- A practical guide to using diary methods in qualitative research.Anatomical sciences education · 2026Review
- Academic and non-academic life stressors and perceived levels of stress in Brazilian undergraduate health professions students.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- Prevalence and Impact of Antidepressant and Anti-Anxiety Use Among Saudi Medical Students: A National Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Factors Associated with Burnout in Medical Students: An Exploration of Demographic, Academic, and Psychological Variables.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Depression, anxiety, stress symptoms among overweight and obesity in medical students, with mediating effects of academic burnout and internet addiction.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- UK medical students' mental health and their intention to drop out: a longitudinal study.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Strategies to Safeguard Mental Health Among Medical and Allied Health Trainees: A Narrative Review.Advances in medical education and practice · 2025Review
- A Study on the Current Status and Influencing Factors of "Hollow Syndrome" Among Medical University Students.Psychology research and behavior management · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHigh rates of burnout, anxiety, and depression in medical students are widespread, yet we have limited knowledge of the medical school experiences of students with mental health issues. The aim of the study is to understand the impact of mental health issues on students' experience and training at medical school by adopting a qualitative approach.
methodsQualitative study using in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 students with mental health issues from eight UK medical schools of varying size and location. Students were purposefully sampled to gain variety in the type of mental health issue experienced and demographic characteristics. Reflexive thematic analysis was employed using NVivo software.
resultsThree themes were identified. 1) Culture of medicine: medical culture contributed to causing mental ill-health through study demands, competitiveness with peers, a 'suck it up' mentality where the expectation is that medical school is tough and medical students must push through, and stigma towards mental ill-health. 2) Help-seeking: students feared others discovering their difficulties and thus initially tried to cope alone, hiding symptoms until they were severe. There were multiple barriers to help-seeking including stigma and fear of damage to their career. 3) Impact on academic life: mental health issues had a detrimental impact on academic commitments, with students' unable to keep up with their studies and some needing to take time out from medical school.
conclusionThis study provides insight into how medical culture contributes both to the cause of mental health difficulties and the reluctance of medical students to seek help. Mental health issues had a considerable negative impact on medical students' ability to learn and progress through their degree. Addressing the medical culture factors that contribute to the cause of mental health issues and the barriers to help-seeking must be a priority to ensure a healthier medical workforce.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.