Health and quality of live in Brazilian medical students and professional formation

• Grant number: 23/00325-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Effective date (Start): April 01, 2023
• Effective date (End): March 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Medical Clinics
• Principal Investigator: Milton de Arruda Martins
• Grantee: Mariana Salles Kehl
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 19/13850-9 - Health and quality of life of Brazilian medical students and their relationship with professional training, AP.TEM

Abstract

The main purpose of our research project is to develop original studies by our research group that have been dedicated, for more than ten years, to the study of quality of life and health of medical students and the influence of quality of life and mental health on many aspects of the undergraduate formation of medical students. Interventions that have a positive impact on the academic environment, mental health and quality of life of medical students may result in better doctors and an improvement in the quality of health care of the society. We will develop four research projects that aim to study different and strongly related aspects of the relationships among health, quality of life, emotional competencies, professional identity and academic formation. We performed a careful review of the literature and did not identify studies with similar experimental design previously published. All four studies have original design and may contribute substantially to the knowledge in this area and to improve medical curricula and contribute to the development of professional identity in medical students. 1. We will evaluate some factors that can predict quality of life, professional satisfaction and professional choices in physicians in their first years of professional life. We will interview 2,500 doctors that, when medical students, have participated in VERAS (acronym that means "life of students and residents of health professions") study. This doctors, when medical students, answered to 14 different questionnaires (quality of life, daytime sleepiness, quality of sleep, empathy, resilience, burnout, depression, anxiety, leisure time physical activity, academic environment). These medical doctors will be invited to fill questionnaires of quality of life, satisfaction with their profession and professional choices. The main purpose of this study is to determine the factors, when medical students, that can better predict happiness, quality of life, satisfaction with medical profession and professional choices of career and specialty. 2. We will study the relationship between sleep, physical activity and anxiety, depression, quality of life and academic performance in 600 medical students, from five medical schools in the city of Sao Paulo. These medical students will be randomized and invited to fill questionnaires of quality of life, daytime sleepiness, sleep quality, empathy, resilience, burnout, depression, anxiety, leisure time physical activity and academic environment. They will stay for one week with an actigraph for measurements of sleep and physical activity and all these variables with be correlated also with data of academic performance. 3. We will design a program of 12 weeks of orientations to medical students concerning self-care and personal development and invite 300 medical students from five medical schools in the city of Sao Paulo to participate in the program. We will then study the impact of the participation in this program on quality of life, mental health and academic performance of these medical students. 4. We will study the perceptions of professional identity and values of medical profession in medical students of 10 medical schools of all regions of Brazil. Medical students of the six years of medical programs will be invited to write a narrative concerning what they think are the main values of medical profession, professional identity and empathy, and to report a critical incident. Narratives and critical incident reports will be evaluated using qualitative research methods and using Nvivo software for qualitative data. We will compare the results obtained in the different medical schools and in different years of medical program.