Stress, Identity and Wellbeing in Medical Settings
Identity, Self and Social Categorisation Lab
Stress is a known feature of medical studies as well as medical practice. In much of the literature stress is dealt with in the abstract, simply measuring levels of non-specific stress. In this project, however, we go beyond documenting the link between stress and (reduced) wellbeing. We argue that some stressful events have particular implications … Read more
Stress is a known feature of medical studies as well as medical practice. In much of the literature stress is dealt with in the abstract, simply measuring levels of non-specific stress. Some attempts have been made to document the specific stressors that medical students face such as the MSSQ (Medical Student Stress Questionnaire; Yusoff et … Read more
We are conducting interviews internationally across a range of specialty areas to explore the way stress is experienced in each domain. In 2016 we conducted an interview-based study looking at the nature of stress and identity in two target specialties – emergency medicine, and oncology. We now have funding to expand this study to other … Read more
We are pleased to have a book chapter in the 2017 book on Self and Social Identity in Educational Contexts. The chapter examines several of the complexities and identity conflicts in medical education. We combine the work we have done looking at identity and approaches to learning (deep and surface) with our work on medical student well-being, and analyse some of … Read more
We are delighted to have received a grant for just under £10,000 to progress the work on the link between different types of stressors and identity in the medical context into 2017. The project title is: Identity-potent stressors: The interplay of professional (social) identity and specific work-related stressors; and the implications for wellbeing of doctors and … Read more
We are taking a different approach to looking at the stressors in day to day medical practice. The emphasis on prevalence studies in this area often means the use of standard stress scales to capture levels of stress in a very generic way. We believe it is important to look closer at specific experiences. we … Read more
We are running an interview-based study to focus on the particular experiences of stress in the two specialties of Emergency Medicine and Oncology and implications for identity. The particular focus for this study comes from two observations from the literature. stress can be a “badge of honour” in emergency medicine We note that stress can … Read more
Symposium on Burnout and Resiliency in Medical Education Participants from across Scotland and further afield gathered in the Gateway building at St Andrews to discuss recent work on building resilience in medical education. The importance of improving the well-being of medical students and professionals has been a growing priority in recent years. As part of … Read more
Divergence & convergence across theoretical & analytical perspectives Ken Mavor was part of an international team presenting at AMEE in Glasgow. The symposium represented a wide range of research approaches looking at identities in medical education. The presenters included: Lynn Monrouxe (Chang Gung Medical Education Research Centre, CGMH, Linkou, Taiwan); Rola Ajjawi (Centre for Medical Education, … Read more
