Improvement of medical students' stress, dispositional mindfulness, well-being and flourishing during the first academic year of a medical curriculum integrating a well-being longitudinal strand.

BACKGROUND: Given the high prevalence of mental health problems among medical students, a well-being longitudinal strand aimed at strengthening self-awareness, connection and caring skills was integrated into our renewed curriculum. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the trajectory of perceived stress, dispositional mindfulness, well-being and flourishing in first-year medical students enrolled in this curriculum. METHOD: A nonexperimental prospective census cohort study was conducted from March to December 2024. At baseline (t0), at the end of the first semester (t1) and at the end of the second semester (t2), 116 students completed the Spanish versions of the Perceived Stress Scale, Mindful Attention Awareness Scale and Mental Health Continuum-Short Form. To determine the effect of time on stress, dispositional mindfulness and well-being levels, 915 scales were analyzed via longitudinal mixed models. To assess temporal changes in flourishing status, data from students who completed scales at the three time points were examined via McNemar’s test. A p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Students’ stress, dispositional mindfulness, well-being and flourishing changed significantly over time. The stress level followed a biphasic trajectory, peaking at t1 and decreasing markedly at t2 (22.9 ± 6.8 versus 13.1 ± 5.9, p < 0.001). Dispositional mindfulness increased from t1 to t2 (3.2 ± 0.8 versus 3.7 ± 0.9, p < 0.001). Well-being initially diminished slightly at t1 but then increased by t2 (48.1 ± 10.7 versus 52 ± 9.2, p < 0.001). The proportion of flourishing students decreased from t0 to t1 (54% versus 40%) but subsequently increased markedly, reaching above-basal levels by t2 (72%). CONCLUSION: Medical students’ mental health significantly improves over their first academic year within a curriculum that integrates, among other innovations, a well-being longitudinal strand. This research may be valuable for medical programs looking at preventing students’ burnout and depression.