JIAMSE Article Review

Dear IAMSE Colleagues,


In a recent conversation with a small group of medical students the discussion turned to wellness. The topic appeared straight-forward and center, yet too often students avoid the issue. For certain the rigors of medical school are alive and well, with 20% of medical students seeking psychiatric consultation during their undergraduate medical education. First year students are faced with apparent insurmountable work demands and adjustment to medical school. Second year students are often hypochondriacs that assume they have every imaginable new disease they study plus the stress of a heavy curriculum load and the prospects of the upcoming USMLE Step 1 examination. Third and fourth year students as well struggle with clinical rotations that present issues of life and death for the first time and residency applications, respectively.

In a recent JIAMSE issue (16[2]:86-92) (http://www.iamse.org/jiamse/volume16-2/16-2_complete.pdf) Harris et al., using a thirty-one item survey instrument, assessed the areas of sleep, diet and exercise for first and second year medical students in relation to satisfaction with life. Their findings indicate a correlation between sleep and exercise and student satisfaction. Both first and second year students averaged 6.3 hours of sleep per night, falling short of the recommended 8 hours. Although the study did not show a correlation between satisfaction and diet, a significant correlation for sleep and exercise was recognized. For first year students satisfaction was related to sleep differential, defined as the actual hours of sleep per night minus the ideal amount. Second year students judged sleep satisfaction as total hours per night. In the area of exercise there also was a correlation with life satisfaction. Both first and second year students exercised an average of 34 minutes per day, which exceeds current guidelines. In short, we are just beginning to understand the enormous value of wellness programs in the medical school environment.

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) now encourages and mandates (http://www.lcme.org/functionslist.htm#introduction; MS-26) that medical schools have a student wellness program in place that encompasses “an effective system of personal counseling for its students that includes programs to promote the well-being of students and facilitate their adjustment to the physical and emotional demands of medical school.”



Wishing everyone a Prosperous 2009!



Floyd C. Knoop, Ph.D.

Member, IAMSE Publication Committee

JIAMSE Editorial Board