Early Learning Experiences in Med School Shown to Impact Burnout, Empathy, and Career Regret

Early learning experiences in medical school impact students’ burnout, exhaustion, empathy, and career regret levels at graduation. A longitudinal study, published in JAMA, finds that medical students who report experiencing mistreatment prior to their second year have higher levels of burnout and career regret two years later. The opposite also holds true. Students with positive experiences report lower burnout levels, higher empathy, and less career regret at graduation.
The study, led by Liselotte Dyrbye, MD, MHPE, Daniel Satele, BA, and Colin West, MD, PhD, includes over 14,000 students from 140 allopathic medical schools who responded to the AAMC Medical School Year Two Questionnaire and the 2016-2018 AAMC Graduation Questionnaire.

The study findings show that just over three-quarters of students reported no mistreatment (77.1 percent) on the Year Two Questionnaire. Among the remaining 22.9 percent of students, 11.3 percent reported mistreatment in one instance, and 11.6 percent reported mistreatment in more than one instance. Within the group who experienced mistreatment more than once, the Graduation Questionnaires were more likely to indicate:

• Career choice regret (6.4 percent for those who never experienced mistreatment, 7 percent for once, and 11.4 percent for more than once)
• Greater exhaustion (mean scores: 12 for never, 13 for once, and 13.8 for more than once)
• Higher levels of disengagement (mean scores: 5.3 for never, 5.5 for once, and 6.0 for more than once)

Among those students who reported a more positive emotional climate on the Year Two Questionnaire, the relationships were the opposite. Their Graduation Questionnaires were more likely to show:

• Lower exhaustion levels (for each 1-point increase in emotional climate, there was a reduction by .05 in exhaustion)
• Lower disengagement scores (for each 1-point increase in emotional climate, there was a reduction of .04 in disengagement)

Students who reported positive faculty interactions on the Year Two Questionnaire were more likely to receive higher empathy scores on the Graduation Questionnaire. And, positive interactions with other students resulted in lower instances of career regret at the conclusion of medical school.

Find the full blog, including implications of these findings for school administrators, here.

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