Keeping the Flame Alive: Medical Student Mental Health Support Protects Public Wellbeing
Open Access
Author:
Greenspan, Blake
Area of Honors:
Bioethics and Medical Humanities
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Michele L Mekel, Thesis Supervisor Michele L Mekel, Thesis Honors Advisor Barbara Ann Birriel, Faculty Reader
Keywords:
burnout physician mental health bioethics medical humanities Greenspan well-being wellbeing physician burnout medical student
Abstract:
The rising rate of physician burnout is contributing to an urgent public health crisis. Burnout devastates physicians, undermines patient care, and robs society of high-quality care and health care resources. This growing crisis has been tremendously exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has placed enormous strain on health care providers in the face of uncertainty. Solutions are urgently needed, but to minimize the impacts to individual patient and overall public health, as well as to address physician well-being. This thesis utilized bioethical frameworks to identify and examine a partial solution to physician burnout by targeting medical students as future professionals. Specifically, utilitarianism and ethics of care are utilized to assess educational and professional culture interventions, based on a review of existing literature, which identified a particularly promising, novel approach to managing medical student well-being that can be carried forward into practice.
