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Dyrbye LN. et al. "Burnout and suicidal ideation among U.S. medical students". Ann Intern Med 2008; 149(5): 334-341.http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/abstract/149/5/334

The results of this study of 370 medical students in 7 medical schools in the United States show that 11.2% reported suicidal ideation in the past year. Burnout and low quality of life were independent predictors of suicidal ideation. Of the students who met criteria for burnout, 99 (26.8%) recovered. Recovery from burnout was associated with markedly less suicidal ideation . Although response rates (52% for the cross-sectional study and 65% for the longitudinal cohort study) are typical of physician surveys, nonresponse by some students reduces the precision of the estimated frequency of suicidal ideation and burnout.

Conclusion: ~ 50% of students experience burnout and 10% experience suicidal ideation during medical school. Burnout seems to be associated with increased likelihood of subsequent suicidal ideation, whereas recovery from burnout is associated with less suicidal ideation.

Canadian research: PubMed search ... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=DetailsSearch&Ter...