As though medical school wasn’t difficult enough, now new research suggests that internship is even more difficult.
In a study of 740 medical students who were on internship, researchers (Sen et al., 2010) found that nearly 4 percent of the students met the criteria for depression before their internship started.
That number jumped to over 25 percent of students when the researchers measured their depression level at four points over the course of the internship year. That’s right — 1 in 4 medical students on internship suffer from serious, clinical depression.
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I really wonder why medical interns undergo such exhaustive working hours. I see an element akin to hazing, where prospective physicians are put to the last test for mental and physical endurance – before they are eligible for the care of another.
The subjects of this study were not, as this interpretation suggests, medical students “on internship”. They are newly minted MDs in their first year of post-graduate (that is, post-medical school) training. This fact makes the findings somewhat more concerning than if it were actually of medical students, as interns can order tests and medications, and do some portion of that without direct supervision.
That said, the dig on “teaching hospitals” is unfounded and misleading. Teaching hospitals demonstrate the most innovation and expertise. If you’re seriously ill, there’s nowhere better to be.