Placement or displacement: An ethnographic study of space in the clinical learning environment

PURPOSE

This paper aims to examine the spatial attributes in the hospital ward environment and their impact on medical students' learning and experience of the clinical workplace.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An ethnographic study was conducted in a Scottish teaching hospital, combining observations and interviews over a period of 10 months. Two teaching wards served as the field-sites where approximately 120 h of non-participant observations took place sequentially. In addition, 34 individual interviews were conducted with identified key informants that included medical students, junior doctors, postgraduate trainees, consultant supervisors, ward nurses and hospital pharmacist. A combination of Actor-network Theory (ANT) and Social cognitive theory (SCT) was applied to analyse data pertaining to spatial attributes and their relevance to clinical teaching and learning.

RESULTS

Analysis of the observational and interview data led to generation of the following themes: spatial attributes in the clinical workplace can enable or constrain teaching and learning opportunities, inadequate spaces impact students' and junior doctors' sense of value, short clinical rotations influence a sense of ownership of doctors' spaces, and contested nature of space in the clinical environment. Several illustrations of the field-sites help to contextualise the themes and aid in understanding the participants' experiences and perceptions.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest a complex entanglement of space with medical students learning and wellbeing in the clinical workplace. Provision of suitable spaces needs to be a core consideration to realise the full potential of work-based learning in medicine.

"Taking Time": Exploring Music Therapy Student Self-Care Definitions and Practices

The concept of self-care for music therapists is not a new topic in the literature, yet music therapy students' perspectives have largely been excluded from formal discussions and research studies. For this reason, this study aimed to examine music therapy students' conceptualizations of self-care and identify practices that students frequently engage in for self-care. As part of a national survey, music therapy students currently enrolled in an academic degree program for music therapy within the United States defined self-care and identified up to three of their most frequent self-care practices. We analyzed the student self-care definitions and self-care practices using inductive content analysis. Two primary categories emerged from the student definitions-the Act of Self-Care and the Desired Outcomes of Self-Care-with several more detailed subcategories. Additionally, we grouped participants' most common self-care practices into 10 categories and identified two emergent areas for exploration: self-care practices done with others/done alone and engaging in self-care practices that intentionally do not involve anything related to academics/coursework/clinical work. Together, these findings indicate that students' conceptualizations of self-care and their self-care practices have similarities and differences with music therapy professionals' perspectives and practices. We discuss these findings in depth and provide recommendations for future self-care discussions that emphasize the need to prioritize students' perspectives and to expand conceptualizations of self-care to include contextual and systemic impacts and factors that influence the individual self-care experience.

Testing a mediation model of teacher caring, grit, and student wellbeing in English as a foreign language students

Introduction

This study delves into the influence of perceived teacher caring on the wellbeing of Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students, with a specific focus on the potential mediating effect of grit. With a sample size of 748 EFL students hailing from diverse Chinese universities, we aimed to shed light on the connections between perceived teacher caring, student wellbeing, and the mediating factor of grit.

Methods

To address our research questions, we collected data through self-report questionnaires that gauged perceived teacher caring, student wellbeing, and levels of grit. By utilizing structural equation modeling, we were able to rigorously assess both the direct and indirect impacts of teacher caring on student wellbeing.

Results

Our analysis uncovered a noteworthy and positive correlation between perceived teacher caring and student wellbeing. Furthermore, our findings indicated that grit plays a significant mediating role in this relationship. This suggests that students who exhibit higher levels of grit are more inclined to experience heightened levels of wellbeing.

Discussion

The outcomes of this study underscore the significance of nurturing positive teacher-student relationships within the EFL context. The identification of grit as a mediator emphasizes its role in fostering enhanced student wellbeing. These findings collectively emphasize the intertwined nature of teacher caring, grit, and student wellbeing. Educators should consider these insights for their teaching practices, while researchers can use this study as a foundation for further investigations in this domain.

Teachers' Experiences of Emergency Remote Schooling During the Pandemic: Drivers for Student and Teacher Wellbeing

This article discusses findings from a recent survey (n = 297) of teachers' views of both their own and their students' experiences during the 2021 enforced emergency remote schooling period occurring in New South Wales Australia, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The quantitative analysis reported here explores teachers' views regarding teaching and learning during this challenging period. It identifies three latent constructs, learning, assessment, and interaction, and then uses structural equation modelling to identify the perceived impact of these constructs on student and teacher wellbeing. The remote schooling period had a significant negative impact for teachers and their students across a range of elements of teaching and learning, as well as wellbeing. Student learning experiences and their peer interactions were found to be strong predictors of students' wellbeing outcomes. Assessment design and teachers' feedback to students were significant in predicting levels of teacher wellbeing. Future research directions are also provided.

Perspectives of practicing school psychologists during COVID-19: A multi-country, mixed methods investigation

COVID-19 presented a range of challenges to the delivery of school psychology services in countries around the world. The current study aimed to investigate the practices of school psychologists from the United States of America, Australia, Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom, including changes to practice and exploration of the factors that supported the delivery of school psychology services during the pandemic. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 1,030 school psychologists and analyzed using a mixed methods, multiple case study design. Differing impacts of the pandemic on the working hours of school psychologists were reported across countries. Participants in all countries reported a shift to online working, with an increased focus on consultation and intervention and a reduction in psychoeducational assessments. School psychologists from all nations emphazised the importance of self-care strategies, social connections and physical activity and the role of support via supervision or professional networks. Access to appropriate technology and responsive workplace policies and procedures were also identified as important. Results have implications for the internationalization of the school psychology profession and can inform international school psychology planning in response to future crises.

Factors associated with subjective state of health in college students

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has been deeply painful, it has provided a rare opportunity to study the behavioral responses of individuals in adapting to an unprecedented life event. An analysis of participants' subjective health ratings during the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted by utilizing data from a survey of college students across seven universities in the US. In this study, we challenged the unidimensional factors to the subjective wellbeing by considering all multiplicative associations of those factors. Considering the interaction terms is especially important as not considering those impacts might obscure our understanding regarding the real associations. It was found that while higher screen hours, BMI, and various negative feelings are negatively associated with higher subjective health, higher family income, social class, and students' and their mothers' educations are associated with a higher subjective well-being. However, the impacts of the majority variables are interactive. For instance, the impact of mother's education varies based on the genders of students, or the impact of screen hours differs based on family income. In addition, the degree students limit of exercise at home or gym changes based on the negative feeling they experience during the pandemic. Remarkably, during the pandemic while irrationally limiting exercise at home was associated with a lower subjective health, limiting exercise at gym was positively associated with the response.

A Socio-Ecological Model for Collegiate Recovery Programs

Given the major public health issue of substance use in the college environment and among college students, we must improve our understanding of students attempting to resolve substance related issues. Though much of research and policy attention has focused on individual progress according to personal characteristics and experiences, a much broader, theoretically informed understanding based on interpersonal relationships and contextual conditions of the school and society is warranted. Collegiate recovery programs (CRPs) are a system-level intervention that acknowledges the individual in context and seeks to support them and capitalize on their own skills within a safe environment to practice recovery. To ground CRPs as an environmental support targeting emerging adults that can improve student health and well-being, we developed a social-ecological framework that conceptualizes the multifaceted factors that influence them. Specifically, we aimed to understand factors influencing individuals in CRPs through direct and indirect effects. This conceptualization will better inform the development, implementation, and evaluation of these programs. Our theory-driven framework elucidates the multi-level complexity of CRPs and the importance of individual interventions as well as intervention from multiple stakeholder groups.

Comparing Mental Health, Wellbeing and Flourishing in Undergraduate Students Pre- and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

There has been a preponderance of studies on student mental health, wellbeing and flourishing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Few studies have compared data on student mental health and wellbeing before and during the pandemic. The purpose of the current study was to compare mental health and wellbeing in undergraduate students before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey research was conducted with three groups of undergraduate students (n = 905) from diverse scientific fields at a large, urban university in South Africa. Data was collected by means of electronic surveys, combining full-scale items from three instruments, the Mental Health Continuum Short Form, the Flourishing Scale and the Fragility of Happiness Scale. Data was analysed by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), the Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) and R software. The results indicate that while the mental health and wellbeing of students declined during the pandemic concerning their perceived ability to contribute to society, having supportive and rewarding social relationships and them being engaged and interested in their daily activities, it also improved in terms of their perceived ability to manage their daily lives (environmental mastery), being challenged to grow (personal growth) and in terms of their views that society was becoming better (social growth/actualisation).

Between the Library and Lectures: How Can Nature Be Integrated Into University Infrastructure to Improve Students' Mental Health

The university campus provides the backdrop to a student's education and social journey. For many students, the transition from secondary school through to graduation can be one of upheaval, geographical, financial and social change. Evidence suggests increasing levels of mental health difficulties among UK university students. The university campus is a possible resource to mitigate wellbeing issues through facilitating the salutogenic effects of engagement with nature. This mixed method research examines the opportunity to integrate nature through interventions for University of Sheffield undergraduate students. It uses a green prescription style activity and a specially designed mobile phone app. Through focus groups the participants' experience reveals the necessity for a whole university approach that considers intervention and campus design simultaneously. This study's findings qualify research into young adult's experience of urban green spaces and their tangible connection to plants such as trees. Policy and practice implications include the requirement for a coherent approach to understanding the place-attachment aspects to nature in the university environment. Further afield, there is a need for collaborative wellbeing interventions and urban green space development within the UK context.

A Self-Managed Online Mindfulness Program in a University-Wide Learning Management System Orientation Site: A Real-World Ecological Validation Study

The efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions in randomised-controlled trials and large experimental studies has been demonstrated in university student populations. Whilst these investigations have provided insight into the nature of the delivery of mindfulness-based practices, there has been little research in the implementation of self-managed online student wellbeing and mindfulness programs at university. This ecological validation study conducted in 2020 evaluated a real-world implementation of a large, university-wide, online mindfulness-based program that was accessible fully online via the tertiary institutions’ Learning Management System (LMS) student orientation site. The total sample included 833 participants from a range of disciplines and faculties at Monash University, Australia. At the end of the study, 236 (28.3%) participants were retained and completed the follow-up survey. Participants had the option to engage with the fully self-managed online mindfulness program for a 12-week semester. The mindfulness practices were pre-recorded, audio-guided sessions, and 10–15 min in length. Baseline and end of semester questionnaires included the 14-item Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, 10-item Perceived Stress Scale and the 18-item Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire. Participants who engaged with the mindfulness program over 3 or more weeks showed significant improvements in all three outcome measures, and all participants showed significant improvements in wellbeing at the end of semester. Learning analytics obtained via the LMS revealed that 58.6% (n = 489) had not logged into the mindfulness program at all, almost a third (31.0%, n = 259) logged into the program materials once or twice, and 10.2% (n = 85) of the whole sample engaged with the program actively, having logged in three or more times. The total number of student logins peaked in week 2, reduced between week 2 and week 7 and thereafter activity remained stable until the end of the semester. We hypothesise that the changes in wellbeing, stress and mindfulness at the end of the semester seen in the low engagement participants may partly be explained by the circumstances of COVID-19 restrictions improving. This study has revealed and discusses the complexities of student behaviour and implications for implementing an online mindfulness program in the real- world setting of a university.

Supporting the Transition to Postsecondary Institutions for Students with Mental Health Conditions: A Scoping Review

OBJECTIVE

To conduct a scoping review to identify programs and interventions to support youth with mental health conditions (MHCs) with their transition to postsecondary institution (PSI).

METHOD

A database search of MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase, SocINDEX, ERIC, CINHAL, and Education Research Complete was undertaken. In this review, MHC was defined as a mental, behavioural, or emotional condition, or problematic substance use, and excluded neurodevelopmental or physical disorders. Two reviewers independently screened studies and extracted the data. Included studies are described and a risk-of-bias assessment was conducted on included studies.

RESULTS

Nine studies were included in this review, describing eight unique interventions. Sixty-two percent of interventions were nonspecific in the MHCs that they were addressing in postsecondary students. These interventions were designed to support students upon arrival to their PSIs. Peer mentorship, student engagement, goal setting, and interagency collaboration were some of the strategies employed. However, the overall quality and level of evidence in these studies was low and the effectiveness of these programs was not established.

CONCLUSION

The volume of research identified was limited, no reliable nor policy informing conclusions can yet be made about the impact of these interventions as the evaluation methods, quality of the research methodologies, and the levels of evidence available were of low-quality. Future randomized control trials are required that are designed to target and improve transitions from secondary education to PSIs for those with MHCs.

An Evaluation of an Online Brief Mindfulness-Based Intervention in Higher Education: A Pilot Conducted at an Australian University and a British University

Mental ill health among higher education students is a well-established problem; therefore, it is imperative to implement preventative approaches to support wellbeing. Blended and fully online education programmes widens access for mature or returning students; however, the psychological wellbeing of this sub-group of students is under-researched. Finally, evaluating wellbeing interventions that meet the needs of university students as well as accessible for online students is required. The aim of this study was to evaluate a brief, online and mindfulness-based intervention to assist the self-management of wellbeing and stress for both online and on-campus higher education students. The total sample included 427 participants (96% psychology students) at Monash University, Australia (n=283) and King’s College London (n=144), with 152 participants completing the whole study. Participants were allocated to a brief, self-guided, online and mindfulness-based intervention (over the course of one study period; n=297), or to a wait-list control group (n=148). Baseline and end of semester questionnaires included the 14-item Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, 10-item Perceived Stress Scale and the 15-item Mindful Attention Awareness Scale. Regression modelling revealed the intervention condition accounted for up to 12% of the variability in change in student wellbeing, stress and mindfulness between the start and end of semester (when controlling for baseline). These findings support the implementation of a brief, online and asynchronous mindfulness-based intervention for supporting student mental health and psychological wellbeing. An on-going challenge in practice includes engaging and maintaining student engagement in wellbeing initiatives.

Self-Perceived Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic by Dental Students in Bucharest

All social and economic systems worldwide, including the educational one have been disrupted by escalating the global COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most impacted areas were the medical and dental education fields, due to the forced break from clinical practice during the lockdown, which affected both the educational part, as well as the patients. Thus, the main goal of our research was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dental students' education as related to their perceptions and evaluations, in Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 878 dental students who reported their perception of the psychological and educational impact of this period by completing a Google Forms questionnaire. Collected data were statistically analyzed using Stata/IC 16. There was a severe psychological impact among the respondents, the levels of stress being perceived as high and very high (33.83%, n = 297; 28.59%, n = 251), similar to high and very high anxiety feelings (26.54%, n = 233; 24.26%, n = 213). Very high educational impact from the point of view of the acquisition of practical skills (48.52%, n = 426) and future professional perspectives (38.95%, n = 342) were recorded. While online theoretical learning ability was principally low (37.93%, n = 333) despite consistently modified time allocated to the individual study (44.35%, n = 389), most of the students evaluated the efficiency of lecturers in online courses as neutral (41.12%, n = 361). New dentistry teaching programs will have to be adopted taking into account the dynamics of the pandemic and its strong impact on our students, in order to improve both their wellbeing and the sustainability of dental education.

Narrative inquiry on early-career teachers' stories of Pagdadala in caring for students in low-resource urban public schools

Purpose: In low-resource public schools, these costs may be amplified for early career teachers who help students bear increasingly complex burdens despite lack of resources and specialized support. However, there are limited studies on how care work and its costs are experienced by early-career Filipino public school teachers in low-resource contexts. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine teachers’ stories of caring for burdened students using an integrative and critical narrative inquiry based on Clandinin’s narrative framework and Decenteceo’s cultural story-model of Pagdadala(i.e. burden-bearing). Methods: Field texts were collected through in-depth interviews with ten (10) female teacher advisers over two months. Participants came from eight (8) different public schools catering to students from low-resource communities in Marikina City, Navotas City and Quezon City. Results: Findings showed four narrative pathways ofpagdadalaof caring that teachers lived and told across the caring landscape: shared, overextended, asserted, and curtailed. These non-linear pathways reflect how teachers’ experience of care work is shaped by the overlapping sphere of influence of homes, schools and communities in student care. Conclusions: Complimenting literature on care work in education using Clandinin’s narrative inquiry framework that integrated Decenteceo’sPagdadalamodel, this study has offered a storied map of co-burden-bearing that was shaped by the social, spatial and temporal contexts in low-resource urban public schools. Theoretical and practical implications highlight the dynamics of bigat-gaanin care work and the potential advantage of leveraging on sharedpagdadalaand spaces of pagpapahingain supporting teacher wellbeing.

Novel Solutions to Student Problems: A Phenomenological Exploration of a Single Session Approach to Art Therapy With Creative Arts University Students

Within the Australian university context, research has uncovered increasing levels of psychological distress, in the form of stress, anxiety and depression. Higher rates of psychological distress have been reported in undergraduate students specifically enrolled in creative arts programs. Despite these increasing levels of psychological distress, university students are reluctant to engage with mental health and wellbeing supports. To explore ways to meet the mental health and wellbeing needs of creative arts university students, the Creative Arts and Music Therapy Research Unit at The University of Melbourne commenced a project exploring the benefits and pitfalls of a brief creative arts therapies approach for students attending a campus based wellbeing clinic. This exploratory research study formed the art therapy component of this much broader research endeavor. Creative arts students in this research study were invited to participate in a single session art therapy encounter that involved the visual exploration of the miracle question, asking students to visually depict “what the problem looks like and how it will look when the problem is resolved or you feel like you can cope with it better?” The descriptive findings of this exploratory research study revealed how the combination of art therapy used within a single session framework was able to afford students a novel means to externalize problems, leading students to forming a less internalized view of the self.

The Chinese EPOCH Measure of Adolescent Wellbeing: Further Testing of the Psychometrics of the Measure

Given the enormous population of Chinese-speaking people worldwide, it is important to establish measures of adolescent wellbeing with adequate evidence for reliability and validity. The EPOCH Measure of Adolescent Wellbeing assesses five positive psychological characteristics (engagement, perseverance, optimism, connectedness, and happiness). An initial study with the English version of the measure found support for a five-factor structure, and evidence for internal reliability, convergence with other wellbeing measures, and divergence across factors and with unrelated constructs. An initial study translated the measure into Chinese and found support for the factor structure of the measure. To further test the measure's psychometric properties, data were collected from 11 Chinese student samples (N = 17,854) from several regions of China. All students completed the EPOCH measure, along with a variety of other measures. In cases where measures overlapped, samples were combined, with relevant sub-sets used to examine convergent and divergent patterns. Confirmatory analyses supported the five-factor structure and factors were internally reliable, but consistency over time was low. The five factors were more strongly correlated with other wellbeing factors than with illbeing factors. While some correlations demonstrated expected convergent and divergent patterns with other constructs, there were also considerable deviations from expected patterns. Norm values specific to the Chinese version of the measure are provided. The study supports the EPOCH measure as a useful cross-sectional tool for measuring adolescent positive functioning, but additional consideration of cross time stability, change, and correlations with other constructs is needed.

Learning about Aboriginal health and wellbeing at the postgraduate level: novel application of the Growth and Empowerment Measure

INTRODUCTION

Public health education strives to transform and empower students to engage in policy and practice improvement. However, little is known of the nature of such change among students, especially when studying Aboriginal health and wellbeing, which may involve disrupting long held assumptions and prejudices. This article reports findings regarding the feasibility, specificity and sensitivity of the Growth and Empowerment Measure (GEM) in the evaluation of two innovative Australian 13-week postgraduate public health electives focused on Aboriginal health and wellbeing. The GEM's 14-item Emotional Empowerment Scale (EES14) and its subscales Inner Peace and Self-Capacity, and 12 Scenarios (S12) and its subscales Healing and Growth and Connection and Purpose were used to examine transformative experiences. A new short form of the S12, the Core6, was also trialled as a briefer measure of functional empowerment.

METHODS

Pre-course GEM responses and demographic information were collected from consenting students during the mandatory, face-to-face workshops of the Aboriginal public health Perspectives course and the Aboriginal empowerment and wellbeing Lifespan course. The two-day Perspectives course workshop introduced a group scenario-building activity towards ending health inequality. Lifespan students experienced a 3-day immersion based on Stage 1 of the Aboriginal Family Well Being empowerment program. Insights from both workshops were further integrated through structured online discussions and written assessments. At the end of semester, a post-course GEM was mailed to students for completion and return. Students could also provide feedback through evaluation surveys and semi-structured focus groups. Effect sizes were assessed using paired t-tests, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and multiple ANOVA. Cronbach's alpha confirmed internal consistency.

RESULTS

Baseline GEM data was provided for 147 out of a total of 194 workshop experiences from participating students. Twenty students attended workshops for both Perspectives and Lifespan. Fifty-five matched pairs (representing 52 individual participants) were obtained from 170 students who completed one or both courses. Statistically significant positive change of small to medium effect size was detected in all GEM scales, subscales and some individual items. Lifespan yielded larger effects than Perspectives, most markedly on two subscales: Inner Peace, and Connection and Purpose. Participating students reported significant growth in the Scenario item 'knowing and being who I am' following Perspectives and Lifespan. Those completing Perspectives also reported a significant increase in 'gaining voice and being heard', consistent with its action-oriented scenario-building assessment. In contrast, the psychosocial development approach embedded in Lifespan stimulated strong development in spirituality, responding constructively to judgement, appreciating empowerment in their communities and skills to make changes in their lives. Feedback indicated that students valued these personal and professional growth experiences.

CONCLUSION

The GEM was sensitive and specific in measuring components of empowering change among participants. Challenges included low post-course response rates that limited extrapolation to overall course impact, and attention needed to starting point when comparing the increment of change. The GEM is a promising tool for studying postgraduate courses designed to stimulate transformative learning, wellbeing and cultural competence through empowerment, and relevant in the education of health professionals in the fields of Aboriginal and rural health.

School Achievement and Performance in Chilean High Schools: The Mediating Role of Subjective Wellbeing in School-Related Evaluations

School achievement gaps and school failure are problematic issues in Latin America, and are mainly explained by the socio-economic status (SES) of the students. What schools can do to improve school achievement and reduce school failure is a critical issue, both for school management and teacher training. In this study, we present the association of individual and school-related socio-emotional variables with school achievement and performance, controlling for the effects of SES. A probabilistic sample of 4,964 students, drawn from 191 schools enrolled in year 10 in urban areas of Chile, answered questionnaires assessing subjective wellbeing, social wellbeing in school, school climate, school social wellbeing and students’ perceptions of teachers’ wellbeing. Using structural equation modeling, and controlling for SES, we modeled subjective wellbeing as a mediator of the relationship between school-related variables, such as school climate and perception of teacher’s wellbeing, and (a) school achievement, and (b) school performance. School achievement was computed as a product of (a) the probability of passing the school year, and (b) the percentage of yearly attendance at school. Data on school achievement was drawn from administrative registries from the Chilean Ministry of Education. School performance was computed as the estimated grade point average (GPA) at the end of the school year, based on the students’ previous 5-year GPAs, and was also obtained through administrative data of the last 5 years. Findings reveal the mediating role of subjective wellbeing in the relationship between school-related evaluations (students’ social wellbeing at school, their perception of teachers’ wellbeing and school climate) and school achievement. For school achievement, two variables were mediated (students’ social wellbeing at school and school climate). However, for school performance, no significant mediations were found. We conclude that, on the one hand, after controlling for SES, students’ individual subjective wellbeing is associated with their achievement and performance in school. We discuss the importance of improving school experiences that may protect and promote students’ subjective experience and school achievement and performance, and reduce the probability of school failure and dropout.

Medical students' experience of personal loss: incidence and implications

BACKGROUND

Medical students are generally young people, often away from home for the first time and undertaking a course in which they are learning to care for people at all stages of life, including those approaching death. Existing research indicates that their experiences of personal bereavement may have significant implications for their pastoral welfare and medical learning. No previous studies have tracked medical student experience of bereavement longitudinally and no recent data are available from the UK.

AIMS

The study aims to identify medical students' experience of personal bereavement: the prevalence prior to and during the course and their relationship with those who died.

METHOD

Paper and online questionnaire including questions about recent personal loss.

SETTING / PARTICIPANTS

Four cohorts of core science and clinical medical students at the University of Cambridge, 1021 participants in total.

RESULTS

Mean response rate was 65.2% for core science students and 72.8% for clinical students. On entry to the core science course, 23.1% of all students had experienced a loss at some point. Between 13.0% and 22.5% experienced bereavement during years 1 - 5 of the course: some (1.3% - 6.3%) experienced multiple or repeated losses. Close deaths reported were most commonly those of grandparents followed by friends.

CONCLUSIONS

Medical students commonly experience close personal bereavement, both before and during their course. Educators need to be aware of the range of personal and educational implications of bereavement for medical students, and ensure that appropriate help is available. Further research could explore incidence of loss at other medical schools and investigate the impact and depth of experience of loss.