Early Post-implementation Analysis of a Medical Student Mental Health Program

Mental health and burnout are major concerns among medical students, yet poor utilization of care persists. Barriers to care for medical students were identified in a previous study. Following this, a no-cost, confidential Medical Student Mental Health Program (MSMHP) was established to address common barriers to care. This study provides an analysis 1 year following the implementation of the MSMHP as well as a comparison to student attitudes and service utilization with the pre-implementation survey.

In early 2023, a survey eliciting information regarding student burnout, barriers to care, and resource utilization and satisfaction was sent to 780 current medical students. Participation was anonymous and voluntary, with optional responses to each question.

Ultimately, 387 (50%) medical students responded. Burnout remained at similar levels between years (2020, 2.60; 2023, 2.59), as well as students reporting either a new or previously perceived mental health concern (2020, 67%; 2023, 65%). Satisfaction with the availability of mental health resources for medical students significantly increased since MSMHP implementation; 74% were "very" or "somewhat" satisfied in 2023, compared with 39% in 2020. While we found that the program addressed the barrier of access, barriers of stigma, time, fear of future disclosure, and cost remained.

This study demonstrated that following the implementation of a MSMHP, a greater proportion of medical students obtained mental health care. Despite this, student burnout and concern over mental health and emotional well-being remained high. This may be explained by persistent systemic issues and barriers to care within the medical school experience.