Abstract
Purpose :
Across institutions, experiences of medical students are diverse and are impacted by many factors. We assessed medical students’ experiences regarding access to mentorship, bias, and wellbeing to identify areas of improvement and intervention.
Methods :
We created an anonymous online survey of US medical students across the country that consisted of 56 multiple choice questions. Respondents were queried regarding demographics, access to mentorship, potential biases, perceived wellbeing, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on training. Surveys were distributed to medical students via email through their medical school deans or through individual contact and were posted on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.
Results :
Out of 96,520 medical students in America (AAMC 2022), 340 students responded (0.3%). The majority of respondents were women (70%) and attended medical schools in the Southern US (52.6%). The students were approximately equally spread in their training with 29.4% in their MS1 year, 22.1% in their MS2 year, 20.9% in their MS3 year, and 22.6% in their MS4 year (5% in a research year). A majority of respondents felt that they had adequate access to a research mentor (57.9%), but only 37.1% of students felt that they had enough information on how to successfully match into residency. 44.7% of students felt that bias due to race had an impact on receiving research and training opportunities from faculty while 47.4% of respondents felt that bias due to gender had a similar impact. 78.54% of students who identify as women were assumed to be a nurse in the last 12 months. 56.1% of respondents stated that they feel burnt out from medical school with 69.1% also agreeing that they feel like they are thriving in medical school.
Conclusions :
Medical students in America still experience gender and racial biases, which can impact their research and training opportunities. In addition to this, burnout remains prevalent within the medical school community. Additional work may need to be done to address biases and mental health concerns within medical schools.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.