Achievement levels and mental health in medical students: a Monash University study

An extensive battery of multi-choice psychology tests was administered to Monash Unversity medical students in 1975. Respondents were classified by sex, year and achievement level. Significant differences in parameters of psychological adaptation were detected when students in the three different achievement groups were compared. In general, the low achievers were more depressed and anxious, and less extroverted and empathic than their colleagues. In addition, their own assessment of their mental health was lower than that of their colleagues. They also tended to study less actively, were more prone to avoid the study of core material and derived less gratification overall from the medical course. It is suggested that underachievement in medical students is a danger signal connoting psychological difficulties and that under-achievers constitute a potentially under-counselled group. Counselling facilities should be sufficiently comprehensive to deal with the problems outlined as it is unlikely that this particular set of observations is unique to the group studied who happened to be medical students. The lesson is there for all faculties.