Imposter Feelings among Medical Students During Medical Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62843/jssr.v5i3.610Keywords:
Impostor Syndrome, Medical Students, Neural Network Analysis, PakistanAbstract
Impostor syndrome is a prevalent and neglected mental health problem in the area of medical education, as it manifests through the development of self-doubt and inability to internalize performance even when competent. Though it is widely researched in the Western context, it has not been properly explored in Pakistan, where the cultures and academic pressure can increase its impacts. The current research evaluated the prevalence, the levels of the severity, and the predictors of impostor syndrome among medical students in Punjab, Pakistan. A cross-sectional study was done on 600 medical students (aged 18-25 years) in public (n=300) and private (n=300) colleges in Punjab who were selected using multi-stage stratified random sampling. Data were collected using the Impostor Syndrome Scale (ISS) and the Burnout Scale for Medical Students (BSMS). The findings revealed that 64.5% of students had experienced impostor syndrome, of which 51.2% had mild, 38.8% moderate, 8.3% severe, and 1.8% intense levels of the syndrome. The neural networks were analyzed and the findings indicated that the best predictor of impostor syndrome was the percentage of academic performance (marks). Part-time employment and year of study had significant effects and income, gender and residential status were of moderate effects in the case of impostor syndrome. These results indicate that the rates of impostor syndrome are high among Pakistani medical students, and such results can be used to outline the necessity of applying certain psychological, academic, and institutional interventions to make sure that health and professional sustainability are promoted among future medical practitioners.
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