Personal Life Events and Medical Student Burnout: A Multicenter Study

PURPOSE: Burnout, a marker of professional distress prevalent among residents and physicians, has been speculated to originate in medical school. Little is known about burnout in medical students. The authors sought to identify the prevalence of burnout, variation of its prevalence during medical school, and the impact of personal life events on burnout and other types of student distress. METHOD: All medical students (n = 1,098) attending the three medical schools in Minnesota were surveyed in spring 2004 using validated instruments to assess burnout, quality of life, depression, and alcohol use. Students were also asked about the prevalence of positive and negative personal life events in the previous 12…