2023-09-26 21:35:07
41% of medical students present symptoms of depression and one in four suffers anxiety. He burnout It affects 37% of them and 11% present suicidal ideation, according to the latest study prepared by the State Council of Medical Students (CEEM) and the Spanish Society of Medical Education. Although the problem is not new, there has been a growing sensitivity in medical schools regarding the need to take care of mental health of the students.
There are a series of factors that make this group more prone to suffering from mental health problems than other students. “The main factor that makes us more vulnerable is that we maintain certain workloads very high and that we are subject to a constant pressure throughout our long training,” he assures Jesus Marimedical student and Coordinator of the Mental Health Working Group of the Council of Medical Students of Catalonia (Cemcat).
Student personality
“Although the degree lasts six years, we must bear in mind that the pressure begins much earlier, in baccalaureate, where a high level is already required to be able to enter the career, and it does not end until retirement,” he emphasizes. Added to all this is that the future prospects are not very optimistic because the working conditions of doctors today “are disastrous.” All this within a system that is supported thanks to the “love of art” of many health professionals, he assures.
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Barcelona UB
Also relevant are the factors of personality of the students themselves, such as the high levels of self demand, responsibility o perfectionism. “They are very self-demanding, competitive people with the ability to study many hours, many already have a basic profile before entering university,” he says. Toni Calvopsychologist and director of the Galatea Foundationa Catalan entity that ensures the health and well-being of all health professionals.
Sixth year students, the most affected
“The data indicate that symptoms of depression and anxiety remain at similar levels throughout the career, but depression syndrome burnout It shows a clear ascendancy as the degree ends, just before entering the MIR program,” says Marí. She agrees with him Nina Mielgotechnical director of the Social Protection Foundation of the Collegiate Medical Organization (OMC), who points out that the majority of requests for psychological help are concentrated in sixth of careersince it is the training period for the MIR exam.
To address this situation, the OMC, the CEEM and the Mutual Médica Foundation launched a psychological support service for Medicine degree students in 2022 through the Galatea Foundation, which served 177 students in less than a year: he 84% were women and the vast majority were in sixth grade. “During the project pilot test we received such call overflow “We had to stop the campaign because we mightn’t cope,” explains Mielgo.
Telematic psychological support through the Galatea EP Foundation
Without preventive actions in the faculties
From the Council of Medical Students of Catalonia they denounce that the faculties do not have actions of prevention and they regret that the few activities that have been carried out in this regard “have almost always come from the students themselves,” says Marí.
They criticize that, as they have recently learned, the Generalitat prepares cuts in the budget of the Galatea Foundation, so the amount will be reduced number of sessions psychological therapy offered by the foundation free of charge to students. “The figures have been worrying for years but no measures have yet been taken. What are we waiting for? ”She claims.
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