Objective: This study explored the impact of traumatic experiences on medical students during their clerkships.
Methods: Medical students completed an anonymous online survey inquiring about traumatic experiences on required clerkships during their third year of medical school, including any symptoms they may have experienced as well as coping strategies they may have used.
Results: Twenty-six percent of students reported experiencing vicarious traumatization (VT) during their third year of medical school.
Conclusions: The experience of VT in medical students is relevant to medical educators, given that the resulting symptoms may impact student performance and learning as well as ongoing well-being. Fifty percent of the students who experienced VT in this study did so on the psychiatry clerkship. It is important for psychiatrists to recognize that this is a potential risk for students in order to increase the likelihood that appropriate supports are provided.