Due to the recent emphasis on physician burnout in the medical community, our study examined medical student burnout and its relationship with other factors, such as extracurricular activities. Specifically, we looked at the impact of club participation, monthly time commitment to clubs and leadership roles within those clubs, as well as their correlation with burnout measures, which was assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Our results indicated that as club participation increased for females, depersonalization scores increased as well. Conversely, our results found that male participation in clubs led to lower depersonalization scores. However, women who indicated they joined clubs “to help people through community service” were more likely to report lower depersonalization scores. While the reason for this outcome is unknown, it may indicate that male medical students would benefit from increasing their involvement in extracurricular activities. Meanwhile, if a female student feels they are helping people via community service in an extracurricular activity it may be helpful against burnout, otherwise female students may consider decreasing club involvement. Further studies will be necessary to explore the cause of these relationships.
Collapse