Increase in Sharing of Stressful Situations by Medical Trainees through Drawing Comics

Medical trainees fear disclosing psychological distress and rarely seek help. Social sharing of difficult experiences can reduce stress and burnout. Drawing comics is one way that has been used to help trainees express themselves. The authors explore reasons why some medical trainees chose to draw comics depicting stressful situations that they had never shared with anyone before.

Trainees participated in a comic drawing session on stressors in medicine. Participants were asked if they had ever shared the drawn situation with anyone. Participants who had not previously shared were asked what prevented them and why they shared it now. The authors performed content analysis of the responses.

Of two hundred forty participants, forty-six (19.2%) indicated sharing an experience for the first time. Analysis of the responses revealed dedicated time and space was essential to sharing, trainee insecurity was a barrier, and comics were perceived as a safe way to communicate.

Depicting a stressful situation may be beneficial for trainees who drew an experience they had never shared before. Providing trainees with the opportunity to externalize their experience and create a community for sharing tough experiences may be one way to reduce trainee stress and burnout.