Medical Interns At Increased Risk of Psychological Risk

Over an 18-month period in 2000-2001, Dr Simon Willcock, Dr Michele Daly, Dr Christopher Tennant and Dr Benjamin Allard interviewed 110 University of Sydney medical students and tracked their stress levels.

The researchers found that recent medical graduates completing their internships are at increased risk of developing psychiatric morbidity, including depression, anxiety and burnout - a condition of emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation.

They recommend that workplace environments should acknowledge the high level of risk for all new medical graduates and should have systems in place that recognise signs of psychological distress and help the sufferer.

Dr Willcock says the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in final year medical students is about 26 per cent, roughly equivalent to the general young adult population.

"This increases significantly in the internship year with 70 per cent of respondents suffering from a psychological disturbance on at least one occasion during the 18-month study," he says.

"Recent improvements in working conditions for new graduates should have made the internship period less stressful, but rates of psychiatric morbidity are still high.

"Problems such as psychological morbidity and burnout have been associated with decreased effectiveness at work and increased medical error, making this an important issue to address.

"It is up to the individuals and the healthcare system to make sure young doctors are given the same support and care that we expect them to provide to their patients."

The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association.

CONTACT            Dr Simon Willcock                                                0413 601 393/ 02 9477 9136

                        Judith TOKLEY, AMA Public Affairs,             0408 824 306 / 02 6270 5471