Improving student mental wellbeing

Challenges faced by medical students

Poor mental wellbeing is not synonymous with mental illness. A 2016 report by the Higher Education Policy Institute on mental health in students defined mental wellbeing as “having the emotional resilience to cope with everyday pressures, enjoy life and undertake productive work while having a belief in one’s own and others’ worth.”1 Students affected by mental disorders can have positive mental wellbeing.

Speaking under a pseudonym, Nadia, a foundation year 1 doctor, says that it was geographical isolation that challenged her emotional resilience at medical school. “I have no family in this country,” she says. “Although I enjoyed the independence this afforded me, I did miss my parents.” Nadia also struggled with the everyday pressures of clinical medicine. “When you put yourself in someone else’s shoes, you can take on their burden,” she says.

As a quiet person, the social pressures of problem based learning brought unexpected stress, says Sonia Shrimanker, now a foundation year 1 doctor. Shrimanker recalled the intense competitiveness of her first year at Liverpool medical school, saying that she compared herself with others and …