Anxiety in Medical School

There are plenty of reasons to feel anxious in medical school: meeting new people, dealing with patients, a high workload, long hours, and the responsibility you may face. While it is normal to feel fleeting anxiety about these things, it is not normal if your anxiety is affecting your day to day life.

About one in three medical students globally have anxiety- a prevalence rate which is substantially higher than the general population.

This is something that must be dealt with. It is unacceptable for what could be a third of our medical school population experiencing such feelings, and it is integral that they know where to go and where to find help.

Being anxious or having feelings of anxiety is nothing to be ashamed about and is something that can be treated. There are plenty of resources that are there to support you if you are struggling. Even so, we should be doing more to alleviate the issues that are causing medical students such feelings.

If your workload feels too much, it may be worth having a conversation with your personal tutor about making a plan to best cater to your educational and social needs.

Having a good work-life balance is the key to reducing stress during medical school.

Another way to help is by talking. Talk about how you feel and share resources so that people know that they are not alone in how they feel. We are trying to do this with our Mental Health Spotlight. Talking about different conditions helps to destigmatize talking about your mental wellbeing.

By Aisia Lea