Student well-being and the learning environment

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Student Well-being
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Medical student well-being is a critical issue in medical education.
• It is linked to burnout and resilience.
• Understanding the clinical learning environment's impact is crucial for interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• Determine factors affecting medical student well-being and perceived stress during clinical clerkships.
• Describe associations with the learning environment, resilience, and performance.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective study of third-year medical students.
• Surveys included: Medical School Learning Environment Scale, Brief Resilience Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, WHO Well-Being Index.
• Analysis included Pearson correlations and linear regression, with USMLE Step 1 scores and clerkship performance data.

Main Results:

• Well-being positively correlated with learning environment (r=0.43) and resilience (r=0.35).
• Stress negatively correlated with learning environment (r=-0.34) and resilience (r=-0.53).
• Stress showed a weak positive correlation with clerkship performance (r=0.17), while well-being did not correlate with performance.

Conclusions:

• Student well-being and stress are associated with resilience and the learning environment.
• No relationship was found between well-being and performance.
• A modest positive relationship exists between stress and performance, illustrating complex interdependencies.