Medical Students Are At Risk For Suicide

Medical students have the difficult task of learning through science and rigorous academic training to take care of others. Med students can suffer from many ailments including anxiety, stress or migraines or even worse. Being a doctor of any kind is quite simply about learning to make other people feel better, and it’s possible to heal your patient that’s the goal. Unfortunately, there are times when a patient doesn’t make it and that can feel devastating to a med student who is undergoing training, such as a resident. You are just learning and have a sense of optimism about the field. You want to help people, genuinely and seeing your patient die is a tragedy and can leave you feeling depressed. According to The American Medical Student Association, med students are three times as likely to die by suicide than … Read more

Graduated College Students Having a Tough Time

I have previously discussed how college students today who graduate are having a tough time. See for example the post Medical School Student Costs in the U.S. are Affecting Mental Health,the post College Conspiracy and United States Hyperinflation, the post Astroturfing And How Your Thoughts Are Being Manipulated by Corporate Interests, and the post Let’s Give our Kids a Chance to Succeed. Below is a nice infographic that helps to describe the problem in more detail. Created by: Collegeathome.com

Medical School Student Costs in the U.S. are Affecting Mental Health

A research letter titled “U.S. Medical Students’ Health Insurance Coverage for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment” published in the Journal of the American Medical Association  vol. 306, no.9, pages 931-933, in September 7, 2011, and written by Rachel Nardin and et al. discusses how medical students are often sleep-deprived, depressed, and have thoughts of suicide. This can lead to lack of empathy for their patients and contribute to additional medical errors once they graduate. It can also lead to substance abuse. Even so these medical students are not being adequately treated for their psychiatric disorder or substance abuse due to wanting to avoid adding additional costs to their already substantial debt from school. It is a fact that about 50% of those with a serious mental disorder also suffer from a substance abuse disorder. The study looked at health insurance offered … Read more