The WELLMESS Project (Move Well, Eat Well, Sleep Well, Stress Well).

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Student Wellness
• Public Health

Background:

• Medical education presents significant challenges to student well-being.
• Burnout in medical students impacts personal health and patient care quality.
• Healthy lifestyle factors are recognized for their protective effects against burnout.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess variations and associations in physical activity, eating patterns, sleep, perceived stress, and phone screen time among osteopathic medical students.
• To evaluate the impact of health behavior challenges on these lifestyle factors.

Main Methods:

• A prospective cohort study involving first- and second-year medical students.
• Data collected via online assessments at 10 time points throughout the academic year.
• Utilized validated instruments for physical activity, diet, sleep, stress, and screen time, with incentives for participation.

Main Results:

• Low response rates (7%-13%) were observed for the assessments.
• Significant variations (p<0.05) were found in physical activity, water intake, diet score, and phone screen time over time.
• Average sleep duration was 6.7 hours/night, with perceived stress scores averaging 6.6.

Conclusions:

• Medical students exhibit modifiable lifestyle factors that require improvement, including physical activity, diet, sleep, stress management, and screen time.
• Low participation rates present a significant limitation to the study's findings.
• Ongoing initiatives include student-led wellness workshops to address these lifestyle factors.