A National Perspective: Integrating Medical Humanities to Address Burnout and Stress in Chinese Medical Education

A National Perspective: Integrating Medical Humanities to Address Burnout and Stress in Chinese Medical Education | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article A National Perspective: Integrating Medical Humanities to Address Burnout and Stress in Chinese Medical Education Huiwen Zhai, Jiaolong Xue, Haotan Wu, Shuang Liao, Christopher Lavender, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4129283/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 25 Feb, 2025 Read the published version in BMC Medical Education → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background The significance of issues in medical humanities, such as empathy, professionalism, patient-orientation, disclosure of harms, and communication skills, has been widely acknowledged in previous studies. While these studies have showcased the impact of individual facets of medical humanities on clinical practice, there exists a dearth of comprehensive assessments that encompass these constructs and their relationship with burnout and distress among medical students. This study aims to fill these gaps by exploring Chinese medical students’ overall perceptions of medical humanities across different educational phases and shedding light on the intricate associations between perceptions of humanities, burnout, and stress. Methods We conducted a nationwide survey using a web-based questionnaire across 38 Chinese universities. The survey was administered using the snowball sampling method, with the data collection period running from September 8, 2022, to September 22, 2023. Participants included a national sample of 904 students (out of a total of 969) enrolled in medical schools. Results The student’s perception of medical humanities were significantly influenced by several factors: years of medical school education (β = − .077; P = .045), work burnout (β = − .208; P < .001), and perceived stress (β = − .467; P < .001). Work burnout was impacted by clinical clerkship experience (β = .106; P = .001), whereas perceived stress was influenced by the number of years in medical school (β = 0.102; P = .002). Additionally, work burnout acts as an intermediate variable between clinical clerkship experience and students’ perception of medical humanities. Conclusion This study illuminated the complex relationship between medical education, burnout, stress, and students' perception of medical humanities issues. It underscores the critical importance of balancing technical proficiency with humanistic values in medical training. Implementing strategies that support students' well-being and foster empathy is essential in nurturing a compassionate and effective healthcare workforce. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SupplementaryTables.docx rawdata.sav Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 25 Feb, 2025 Read the published version in BMC Medical Education → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 15 Apr, 2024 Reviews received at journal 12 Apr, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Apr, 2024 Reviews received at journal 31 Mar, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 31 Mar, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 28 Mar, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 28 Mar, 2024 Editor invited by journal 22 Mar, 2024 Submission checks completed at journal 22 Mar, 2024 First submitted to journal 19 Mar, 2024 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4129283","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":283615092,"identity":"b277fc4b-605e-4bfa-886d-3d3226ac9444","order_by":0,"name":"Huiwen Zhai","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Huiwen","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhai","suffix":""},{"id":283615093,"identity":"02d117a3-d36e-4afd-bb76-9297fffe4a46","order_by":1,"name":"Jiaolong Xue","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Sichuan 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Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4129283/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4129283/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe significance of issues in medical humanities, such as empathy, professionalism, patient-orientation, disclosure of harms, and communication skills, has been widely acknowledged in previous studies. While these studies have showcased the impact of individual facets of medical humanities on clinical practice, there exists a dearth of comprehensive assessments that encompass these constructs and their relationship with burnout and distress among medical students. This study aims to fill these gaps by exploring Chinese medical students\u0026rsquo; overall perceptions of medical humanities across different educational phases and shedding light on the intricate associations between perceptions of humanities, burnout, and stress.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe conducted a nationwide survey using a web-based questionnaire across 38 Chinese universities. The survey was administered using the snowball sampling method, with the data collection period running from September 8, 2022, to September 22, 2023. Participants included a national sample of 904 students (out of a total of 969) enrolled in medical schools.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe student\u0026rsquo;s perception of medical humanities were significantly influenced by several factors: years of medical school education (β \u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.077; P\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.045), work burnout (β \u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.208; P\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001), and perceived stress (β \u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.467; P\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001). Work burnout was impacted by clinical clerkship experience (β =\u0026thinsp;.106; P\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.001), whereas perceived stress was influenced by the number of years in medical school (β =\u0026thinsp;0.102; P\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.002). Additionally, work burnout acts as an intermediate variable between clinical clerkship experience and students\u0026rsquo; perception of medical humanities.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusion\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study illuminated the complex relationship between medical education, burnout, stress, and students' perception of medical humanities issues. It underscores the critical importance of balancing technical proficiency with humanistic values in medical training. Implementing strategies that support students' well-being and foster empathy is essential in nurturing a compassionate and effective healthcare workforce.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"A National Perspective: Integrating Medical Humanities to Address Burnout and Stress in Chinese Medical Education","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-03-26 09:45:29","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4129283/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2024-04-15T14:35:46+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2024-04-12T11:13:28+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"998d4a6a-6694-47a3-aa37-958bf40f05ba","date":"2024-04-02T06:15:32+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2024-03-31T06:29:37+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"1809651a-6d09-421f-b454-b881202ac439","date":"2024-03-31T06:00:02+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2024-03-28T14:55:22+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2024-03-28T14:47:14+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2024-03-22T13:03:31+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2024-03-22T12:52:28+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"BMC Medical Education","date":"2024-03-19T10:00:23+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-medical-education","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"meed","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Medical Education](http://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/meed/default.aspx","title":"BMC Medical Education","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"ab89161a-54cd-4951-8645-fa7d3312cd98","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 26th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-03-03T16:00:16+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-4129283","link":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-06875-8","journal":{"identity":"bmc-medical-education","isVorOnly":false,"title":"BMC Medical Education"},"publishedOn":"2025-02-25 15:57:15","publishedOnDateReadable":"February 25th, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2024-03-26 09:45:29","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1186/s12909-025-06875-8","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-06875-8","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-4129283","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-4129283","identity":"rs-4129283","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}