Emotional exhaustion and poor psychological well-being among osteopathic medical school matriculants and graduates

Abstract Purpose Burnout is prevalent among medical students and is linked to depression, impaired academic performance, and medical errors. Although osteopathic medical students comprise 25% of U.S. medical students and often serve in high-need settings, their burnout and psychological well-being have been less frequently studied. The present study seeks to describe the prevalence of emotional exhaustion and psychological symptoms at matriculation and graduation in U.S. osteopathic medical students, and to examine differences across gender and race/ethnicity. Method In Fall 2022 (matriculating class of 2026; N=7,414; 80.9% of the class) and Spring 2023 (graduating class of 2023; N=4,048; 50.7% of the class), the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine administered surveys to assess medical student well-being, including measures of emotional exhaustion (originally derived from the Maslach Burnout Inventory) and psychological symptoms (as measured by the Brief Symptom Rating Scale). Results Among matriculants (N = 7414), 28.6% of students reported at least mild emotional exhaustion and 70.6% reported at least mild psychological symptoms. Among graduates (N = 4048), 63.7% of students reported at least mild emotional exhaustion and 85.7% reported at least mild psychological symptoms. At matriculation, female students reported greater emotional exhaustion [31.8 v. 30.1; P=.003, d=0.07] and psychological symptoms [matriculating: 7.9 v. 6.8; P<.001, d=0.30] than male students. The same pattern emerged at graduation, where female students reported greater emotional exhaustion [52.9 v. 48.3; P<.001, d=0.17] and psychological symptoms [10.3 v. 9.1; P<.001, d=0.31]. Graduating students reported greater emotional exhaustion [51.0 v. 31.4; P<.001, d=0.80] and psychological symptoms [9.8 v. 7.5; P<.001, d=0.60] than matriculants. Conclusions Osteopathic medical students experience concerning rates of emotional exhaustion and psychological symptoms, evident both at matriculation and graduation. In both cohorts, female students were particularly affected. These findings highlight a challenge that medical schools must continue to address.