­Barriers faced by medical students in seeking mental healthcare: A scoping review

Abstract

Background: Medical students commonly exhibit mental health issues. Despite the availability of professionals on medical campuses, seeking help continues to be a challenge for some students. Our review aimed to identify the barriers medical students face when seeking professional mental healthcare. Methods: A Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) search was created for articles using PubMed, Embase, and PsychINFO databases to identify articles specifically about medical students and their barriers to professional mental healthcare. Inclusion criteria included articles in which barriers to mental healthcare were either the primary variable or one of multiple study results. No date limits were imposed. Reviews, pilot projects, or articles that did not address barriers to mental healthcare faced by medical students or focused on veterinary or dental students were excluded. A total of 454 articles were identified and screened by title/abstract and then full text. Data were extracted from 33 articles using an independent framework. Barriers identified were compiled and reported.  Results: From a total of 33 articles, the most identified barriers were fear of negative effect on residency/career opportunities, fear of confidentiality breach, stigma and fear of shaming from peers, lack of perceived seriousness/normalization of symptoms, lack of time, and fear of documentation on academic record. Students also preferred to seek care outside of their institution from fear of their provider being an academic preceptor.  Conclusions: Many of the barriers to mental healthcare faced by medical students relate to a fear of academic and career reprisal, and fear of confidentiality breach. It appears that despite recent efforts to decrease stigma surrounding mental illness, many medical students struggle to seek appropriate support. Access to mental healthcare can be improved by increasing transparency regarding what information will be displayed on academic records, dispelling common myths about mental healthcare, and increasing awareness about resources available for medical students.