Burnout Among First-Year Medical Students During COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: The coronavirus pandemic is an international public health emergency without precedence in modern history. It represents a challenge to students’ academic and psychological stability due to the changes it caused in daily life. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and level of burnout in medical students caused by the academic and psychological instability that the pandemic represents. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was designed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS). This evaluated the emotional exhaustion due to study demands, cynicism, and negative self-academic efficacy. This study was based in the school of medicine of the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon (UANL) in Monterrey, Mexico, during the Spring semester of 2020. Results: A total of 154 (93 women and 61 men) first-year medical students participated (response rate of 36.4%). Burnout was identified in 14.9% (n=23), and high emotional exhaustion in 53.9% (n=83). Burnout was almost 4 times more likely to develop in men than in women (aOR = 4.8; 95% Confidence Interval=1.7-13.3) when considering age as a covariable in the multivariable model. Conclusion: Further epidemiological studies of burnout syndrome in medical students are needed, and schools should consider promoting mental health and making programs available for their students to help overcome the emotional and social challenges during the pandemic

Synthesis and Spatial Order Characterization of Controlled Silica Particle Sizes Organized as Photonic Crystals Arrays

The natural occurrence of precious opals, consisting of highly organized silica particles, has prompted interest in the synthesis and formation of these structures. Previous research has shown that a highly organized photonic crystal (PhC) array is only possible when it is based on a low polydispersity index (PDI) sample of particles. In this study, a solvent-only variation method is used to synthesize different sizes of silica particles (SiPs) by following the traditional sol-gel Stöber approach. The controlled rate of the addition of the reagents promoted the homogeneity of the nucleation and growth of the spherical silica particles, which in turn yielded a low PDI. The opalescent PhC were obtained via self-assembly of these particles using a solvent evaporation method. Analysis of the spatial statistics, using Voronoi tessellations, pair correlation functions, and bond order analysis showed that the successfully formed arrays showed a high degree of quasi-hexagonal (hexatic) organization, with both global and local order. Highly organized PhC show potential for developing future materials with tunable structural reflective properties, such as solar cells, sensing materials, and coatings, among others