Ninth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

Burnout is prevalent among medical students, indicating an urgent need to promote their well-being. Creative writing, which has previously been shown to improve patient well-being, represents a possible but understudied way to enhance medical student well-being. A creative writing workshop was offered to all medical students with 25 participating voluntarily. The 7-hour workshop combined didactic sessions and dedicated writing time. Well-being was assessed using the validated Medical Student Well-Being Index (MSWBI), which measures well-being on a scale of 0 to 7 with 7 indicating maximum distress. The MSWBI was administered to students immediately before the workshop and one week later. Of the 25 available workshop spots, there was 100% (25/25) participation. 80% (20/25) completed the pre-workshop MSWBI, and 76% (19/25) completed the post-workshop MSWBI. The average pre-workshop MSWBI was 3.40. The average post-workshop MSWBI was 1.68, with a 51% decrease compared with the pre-workshop average. Of the 14 participant-matched pre and post-workshop MSWBI, 64% (9/14) showed a decrease, 29% (4/14) showed no change, and 7% (1/14) showed an increase. The average decrease in MSWBI was by 3.22.