Education Research: Secondary Trauma in Third-Year Medical Students During a Neurology/Emergency Medicine Clerkship
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Background and Objectives: Exposure to emotionally taxing patients can lead to secondary trauma that can result in burnout and emotional exhaustion in healthcare providers. Understanding whether secondary trauma is present in medical students could provide an opportunity to address the issue earlier in physician training. We sought to determine if secondary trauma characteristics exist in third-year medical students during a combined neurology/emergency medicine clerkship. Methods: Six cohorts of third-year medical students at a MD-granting institution were invited to complete the Professional Quality of Life Survey, a widely used tool for assessing secondary trauma and its associated symptoms of compassion fatigue and burnout in healthcare workers. This was combined with supplemental questions and a standard postrotation survey to explore medical students' emotional experiences during the clerkship. The strength of the associations was measured with Cramér's V. Results: = 0.005). Discussion: Secondary trauma characteristics were identified in 11.3% of third-year medical students during a combined neurology/emergency medicine clerkship. This provides an opportunity to incorporate interventions that are effective in reducing secondary trauma characteristics in physicians during this early stage of training. Recognizing and proactively reducing secondary trauma during the clerkship experience may have longer-term benefits during later stages of medical training and practice.
Source: Neurology Education
Institution: University of Kentucky
Language: English
Subfield: General Health Professions
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4414155502