Earlier this month, Dr. Anne Thorndike, a physician in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, wrote that physician burnout starts with the medical school admissions process, which takes almost twice the length of time as other graduate admissions processes. In an opinion piece for STAT, an online health, medicine, and scientific discovery publication, she called for a shortened admissions timeline for medical school applicants and says the current process is time-consuming, expensive, highly-competitive, and intensely stressful.
Referencing a plethora of studies, she goes on to describe the stress that medical school applicants face prior to even beginning their professional journey. A 2012 study showed higher emotional exhaustion, a symptom of burnout, in pre-medical students compared to non-premedical students. In another study, 33 Black and Hispanic medical students interviewed from across the country described medical school admissions as “very negative” because it was overwhelming and required an “extensive investment of time.” A 2020 online survey found that 73 percent of 556 medical school applicants had depression or anxiety symptoms, with half reporting uncertainty related to the application timeline.
So, how can you manage effectively this daunting process as an applicant?
Find the full blog post, with advice on coping strategies, here.
Referencing a plethora of studies, she goes on to describe the stress that medical school applicants face prior to even beginning their professional journey. A 2012 study showed higher emotional exhaustion, a symptom of burnout, in pre-medical students compared to non-premedical students. In another study, 33 Black and Hispanic medical students interviewed from across the country described medical school admissions as “very negative” because it was overwhelming and required an “extensive investment of time.” A 2020 online survey found that 73 percent of 556 medical school applicants had depression or anxiety symptoms, with half reporting uncertainty related to the application timeline.
So, how can you manage effectively this daunting process as an applicant?
Find the full blog post, with advice on coping strategies, here.
