The COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on burnout among medical students

Background: High rates of burnout among medical students have been shown in meta-analysis pre-COVID-19. The burnout syndrome is a stress-induced condition with a close connection to the work environment. The COVID-19 pandemic had a great impact on the medical education setting in terms of additional stressors as suspended clinical practice and the introduction of digital learning. Aim: This systematic review aims to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on burnout among medical students. Methods: Free-text words combined with MeSH words were used to systematically search the PubMed database. Full-text articles were screened against the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Search words and eligibility criteria were constructed using the PICO-format. All original studies which had performed a burnout-assessment among medical students pre- and post-COVID-19 were selected. Reference-lists of included articles were screened manually. Results: Six out of fifty-two studies were found eligible and were included in the review. Regarding overall general burnout two articles found a statistically significant increase, one found a significant decrease and the remaining three found no significant difference when comparing pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 levels. Conclusions: The results of this review were inconclusive. Findings suggests that COVID-19 may in some ways have improved burnout and in other ways impaired burnout among medical students. More research is needed in order to determine the possible consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical student’s burnout levels