HealthierU | Inside Med Student Burnout: Who Heals the Healer?

Burnout, depression, and even suicide rates among physicians have reached alarming levels, raising the critical question: Who heals the healers? In this episode of HealthierU, we dive into the mental health challenges faced by healthcare professionals, starting with pre-med students and continuing through residency and beyond. One-time Emory pre-med student Ruhama Atena shares her story of burnout, and psychiatrist Dr. Jessi Gold discusses how systemic pressures and cultural stigmas contribute to this growing crisis. This episode underscores the urgency of creating a healthcare system that supports its healers, ensuring those who dedicate their lives to caring for others receive the care they need.

This episode was reported and produced by Merom Arthur, a senior pre-med student and aspiring storyteller at Emory University, who combines her passion for health and media to explore the intersections of medicine, mental health, and human connection. Dr. Jessi Gold is a psychiatrist and wellness officer at the University of Tennessee, specializing in the mental health of healthcare professionals. She is the author of How Do You Feel? One Doctor's Search for Humanity in Medicine. Follow her on social media or explore her work at her website.

Studies referenced in this episode:

• Physician mental health and burnout statistics.
• Will West’s call for systemic change in healthcare.
• Cracking the code on pre-med attrition.

Additional resources:

• Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation.

Emory’s Health Kitchen Collaborative: Research on Lifestyle Medicine.

About HealthierU:

Produced and hosted by students at Emory University’s Center for the Study of Human Health, HealthierU is a podcast that aims to make sense of the science behind human health. This season, we’re diving into our generation’s burning health questions. Questions like: Is it bad to use the internet to diagnose yourself? Why do so many athletes get eating disorders, and why are they so hard to spot? Is sugar really so dangerous? To find the answers, we’re talking to scientists, nutritionists, counselors, medical professionals and regular folks, every week on HealthierU.

About Emory University's Center for the Study of Human Health:

The Emory Center for the Study of Human Health was developed to expand health knowledge and translate this knowledge to all aspects of life – for the individual and populations as a whole. The Center assembles the extraordinary faculty, researchers and thought leaders from across disciplines, departments, schools and institutions to bring this knowledge to Emory University students and inspire them to become leaders for the next generation in meeting challenges facing human health.

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