Association Among Professional Identity, Burnout, and Mental Health in Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Professional identity formation in medical students is a multifactorial phenomenon in which clinical and nonclinical experiences merge with individual values, beliefs, and obligations. Although a strong professional identity has been associated with career success, a mismatch between personal orientations and expectations of the profession can create anxiety and feelings of inadequacy. Evidence exists of a possible association between professional identity and mental health or burnout in medical students. Nevertheless, literature on this topic is scant, and high-quality studies are lacking. Thus, the current study examined whether medical students' professional identity is associated with mental health and burnout.

This cross-sectional study used data from the ETMED-L (Etudiants de Médecine-Lausanne) project collected between November 1 and December 2, 2021. All medical students at University of Lausanne across all study years were asked to complete validated questionnaires measuring professional identity, mental health (depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, anxiety, and stress), and burnout (emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and academic efficacy).

In total, 1,033 medical students were included in the study. Professional identity was significantly and inversely related to depressive symptoms ( r = -0.30), suicidal ideation ( r = -0.34), and anxiety ( r = -0.30). Professional identity was also significantly and inversely related to burnout: emotional exhaustion ( r = -0.33), cynicism ( r = -0.51), and academic efficacy ( r = 0.45 [reversed dimension of burnout]). No significant differences in professional identity scores were observed between curriculum years.

Medical students displaying higher professional identity also reported significantly fewer mental health issues and less burnout. Even though the cross-sectional design precludes any causal affirmation, the results suggest that high levels of professional identity may protect medical students against mental health issues and burnout. This study further warrants a multidimensional approach of professional identity to better capture its potential changes over time in future longitudinal studies.