ArticleDiscover mental health2025
Burnout and depression in first-year medical students across the academic year in the United States.
Article in Discover mental health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Stress and resilience among first-year medical students: a cross-sectional application of the medical student stress scale.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Changes in Mental Well-Being, Lifestyle Behaviors, and Medication Use Before and During Medical School.Cureus · 2026Article
- Caffeine Consumption Patterns Among Medical Students: Survey Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Roots of resilience: positive childhood experiences, sense of belonging, and burnout among medical students.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Burnout in medical students and its psychological correlates with mentorship, motivation and professional values.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThis study examined the prevalence and severity of burnout and depression in first-year medical students at different points in the academic year.
methodsU.S. first-year allopathic medical students with a pass/fail preclinical curriculum were emailed through the school's email list with four rounds of surveys consisting of the full set of questions from the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, with the question order randomized. The surveys were sent before winter break, during block final exams, the subsequent block's midpoint, and after the subsequent block's midterm examinations.
resultsA total of 147 students completed the questionnaire (29.4%; n = 147/500). Most participants (73.5%) reported experiencing symptoms of work-related burnout, and 44.2% reported symptoms of depression. Client-related burnout and PHQ-9 scores were strongly correlated (Spearman r = 0.645, p < 0.001). Work-related burnout was also strongly related to client-related burnout (r = 0.739, p < 0.001) and PHQ-9 scores (r = 0.786, p < 0.001). No statistically significant differences in depression or burnout were noted throughout all four survey rounds.
conclusionsBurnout and depression severity in first-year medical students remain statistically similar throughout the academic year despite significant events such as exams or breaks. This may indicate that scheduling exams after breaks reduces any protective effect it may have on burnout/depression. It may also suggest that institutional changes such as a pass-fail preclinical curriculum meant to improve medical students' mental health have not had the intended positive effect.
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