Enhancing the Medical School Learning Environment: A Complex Challenge

Excerpt

The medical school learning environment encompasses the physical, social, and psychological contexts in which students learn; interactions with faculty, staff and peers; and the formal, informal and hidden curricula.1 The learning environment influences students’ professional and identity development, and studies have found that optimized learning environments have positive impacts on humanism, achievement and student learning.2 ^, 3 At the same time, a poor learning environment has been shown to be associated with increased student burnout and distress. Features of the learning environment such as a low level of faculty support, a non-collaborative environment, cynical residents, poorly organized rotations, and inadequate supervision by residents are all independently related to student burnout.4 …