Burnout and career choice motivation in medical students

Background: Burnout is a stress-induced syndrome, which affects medical students. Some environmental and personal factors can favor burnout onset and its serious consequences as dropping out, sleep disorders, depression, and suicide. The motivation for choosing medicine is a personal aspect that can modulate the distress with academic demands. Methods: We applied self-administered questionnaires in 277 medical students to investigate the predictive role of career choice motivations on burnout dimensions. Specifically, we studied the influence of the main reasons for choosing medicine on emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and academic efficacy. Results: Intellectual curiosity, professional autonomy, altruism, and interest in human relationships were the most common reasons for choosing medicine. However, the medical students motivated by personal illness or family member's illness or death revealed a significant greater emotional exhaustion when compared with the students with other motivations. Conclusion: The students who apply for medical school motivated by illness/death experiences are at a great risk for burnout. We suggest that students who are at risk for emotional exhaustion can be identified at the admission of medical school. Primary prevention strategies for burnout should consider this risk group.