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Redefining medical students' disease to reduce morbidity
1Health Psychology Research Group, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Medical Education
|August 8, 2001
Summary
Medical students experience higher disease perception and distress than law students, particularly in their first year. Understanding medical students' disease as a normal process can reduce distress and aid patient symptom education.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Psychology
- Health Sciences
Background:
- Medical students' disease (MSD) involves students experiencing symptoms of illnesses they study.
- The emotional distress associated with MSD is often conflated with the cognitive process of symptom recognition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To differentiate the perceptual and emotional components of medical students' disease.
- To understand the impact of MSD on medical students' well-being.
Main Methods:
- A questionnaire survey compared 92 first-year and 85 third-year medical students with 82 law students.
- Assessed were MSD perception, MSD distress, hypochondriacal beliefs, health concerns, health value, and recent doctor visits.
Main Results:
- Medical students exhibited higher MSD perception than law students.
- First-year medical students reported greater MSD distress and hypochondriacal concerns compared to law and third-year medical students.
- Medical students placed higher value on health, but doctor visit frequency was similar across groups.
Conclusions:
- The study supports distinguishing MSD into perceptual and emotional aspects.
- Conceptualizing MSD as a normal process, not hypochondriasis, can mitigate student distress.
- MSD offers a relevant model for teaching patients about symptom interpretation.