Award Date

12-1-2022

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychiatry and Behavioral Health

First Committee Member

Brandon Eddy

Second Committee Member

Katherine Hertlein

Third Committee Member

Sara Jordan

Fourth Committee Member

Anne Weisman

Abstract

Medical education to become a physician is a rigorous training process resulting in high rates of burnout in medical students. Research on burnout in human service providers results in negative impacts on professionalism, well-being, and the future healthcare workforce. Previous research investigating strategies to combat burnout has demonstrated that resilience is a dominant explanation for recovery from burnout. There is limited data exploring how social support is used by medical students as a resource to cope with the demands of training. Considering that social support is one primary factor that contributes to resilience, it is important to understand the process of help-seeking behaviors by medical students in their management of burnout. The qualitative method, Grounded Theory, was implemented in this study to analyze the data gathered from semi-structured interviews with students in medical programs training to become a physician across the United States. Grounded theory provided a framework to construct a theory that elaborates on the process of using social support to cope with burnout during medical training. Findings noted five themes highlighting the benefits and limitations of using social support to cope with various stressors during medical training. Participants often become consumed with the obligations required of them to complete their training self-reports of managing symptoms of burnout were described as an isolating experience. Participants decided to turn towards using social support as a coping resource as an outlet to debrief about their experiences.

Controlled Subject

Medical colleges;Burn out (Psychology);

Disciplines

Clinical Psychology

File Format

pdf

File Size

1502 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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