The Impact of COVID-19 on First-Year Medical Students as a Function of "Percentage At Risk" for Adverse Psychological Outcomes

Medical students are more susceptible to experiencing stress, anxiety, depression, and subsequent burnout relative to their peers in other professional fields. The Medical Student Well-Being Index (MSWBI) is a standardized and validated survey that represents the percentage of medical students “at risk” for adverse psychological outcomes, including but not limited to depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts. At Quillen College of Medicine (QCOM), the MSWBI data has been collected annually in an attempt to better understand the factors that contribute to and mitigate medical student burnout.Through the use of the Medical Student Well-Being Index (MSWBI), we compared the changes in the percentage “at risk for adverse psychological outcomes” of first-year medical student responses at Quillen College of Medicine over several years. MSWBI is composed of a seven-item survey. Student responses were summed to total scores then categorized as “at risk” or not “at risk”. We used a two-sided Chi-square Fisher’s exact test analysis. Results demonstrated a statistically significant increase in “at risk” students of MS1s for the Classes of 2024 and 2025 relative to the prior Class of 2021 (MS1 ’21 vs ’24: p-value = 0.0191; MS1 ’21 vs ’25: p-value = 0.0103).The data demonstrate that during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increasing percentage of M1 students found to be “at risk for adverse psychological outcomes” such as burnout, depression, and suicide. By finding those at risk, we can then start to determine the modifiable factors contributing to burnout to mitigate downstream consequences. With increasing rates of burnout among medical students and physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic, albeit for varying reasons, there is an urgency and demand for medical schools to foster competent, compassionate doctors to enter the workforce.