Work-life balance in medical students: self-care in a culture of self-sacrifice.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Work-life balance is a key contributor to doctors' wellbeing and consequently is a central factor in their career decisions. General Medical Council guidance outlines the importance of work-life balance as part of compassionate self-care. Learning self-care should begin as an undergraduate, when academic and clinical workload can contribute to stress, anxiety and burnout.

Methods

Sequential mixed methods study of medical students in Years 3-5 at the University of Birmingham, UK. Students (n = 145) defined work-life balance in free-text answers and self-assessed their current work-life balance via questionnaires. Following this, a sub-sample of students (n = 44) participated in exploratory individual mini-interviews.

Results

Work-life balance emerged as a br

SUBMITTER: Picton A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7786898 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature