Resilience: A panacea for burnout in medical students during clinical training?: A narrative review

Clinical rotations or clerkships are a necessary part of medical education but are associated with significant psychiatric morbidity, including burnout and psychological distress. This review aims to explore the role of resilience as a protective factor and assess the effectiveness of resilience-building interventions. We conducted a narrative review using the Medline database via PubMed. The search strategy included the terms "resilience," "burnout," and "medical students." A total of 52 articles were included and synthesized narratively. Burnout affects 40% to 80% of medical students, with higher rates during their clinical years. Resilience was consistently found to be a stable, protective factor that buffers against stress and burnout. Most research focused on medical students, regardless of whether they are in clinical training. However, the effectiveness of resilience interventions varied. Interventions such as psychological workshops and curriculum changes showed mixed results, with competence-based approaches showing the most promise for long-term benefits. Resilience is a critical target for improving medical students' psychological health and reducing burnout during clinical training. Future interventions should focus on combining psychological support with competence-based training to equip students for the challenges ahead.