Entre o cansaço e a exaustão: percepção dos estudantes de medicina em relação ao Burnout durante o estágio supervisionado

Abstract

Burnout syndrome is a nosological entity with great repercussion today given its individual, social and economic impacts. The triad that represents the syndrome consisting of depersonalization, emotional exhaustion and low personal fulfillment affects millions of workers around the world and, especially, health workers, particularly doctors. Research around the world points to an increase in burnout rates in doctors and medical residents, but little is said about burnout in medical intern students, who are already in clinical clerkship. Observing the illness of these people, the norms and guidelines that govern teaching point to the need for care with the students’ mental health. The Federal University of Uberlândia, the field in which this research is conducted, has been undergoing constant and recent curriculum reform proposals to meet the recommendations of the National Curriculum Guidelines for the Medical Course. In search of answers about the perception of medical students about Burnout Syndrome in its reality, a qualitative case study research is proposed using the focal group strategy as a methodological tool. By voluntary adherence, 22 medical intern students participated in this research divided into 3 focal groups according to the semester they were attending. The speeches of the groups were transcribed and submitted according to Content Analysis. From these collections and consecutive inferences, four categories were outlined: (Con)fusion of roles: the process of not being a student anymore; A (un)visible syndrome: the trivialization of suffering; Becoming a doctor: Forged in suffering; (Non)identification: effects of a not easy process. In “(Con)fusing of roles” it is clear that there is no precision as to the attributions of each actor involved in the teaching-learning process, which leads to an accumulation of functions converging on the student. “An (un)visible syndrome” deals with neglecting mental health. The “Becoming a doctor” category brings an appreciation of suffering and its naturalization. Finally, “(Non)identification” tells us the difficulty of identifying with the problem, naming it and understanding the causative factors beyond the subject. Regardless of categories, perhaps the biggest finding is the issue about time. Students are constantly hampered by the scarcity of these hours in a dehumanizing process. Given all of the above, it is believed that the teaching process needs to be rethought so that the student can actually learn and grasp all the meanings that the University has the potential to offer.