The quality of life of students is impacted by the quality of life of senior surgeons in French university hospitals

Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2025 Nov 5;411(1):4. doi: 10.1007/s00423-025-03873-8.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Quality of life of medical school students is impaired by anxiety or depression. As they spend more than of their time as assistants in the hospitals, it is expected that the quality of life of supervisors directly impacts that of students. The objective of this survey was to assess the quality of life of senior surgeons and medical students in visceral surgery at a university hospital in France.

METHODS: The survey was conducted from 1st to 31st December 2024 using the Google Form platform. Two scales of quality of life were utilized: the WHOQOL-BREF and the PROQOL. A correlation matrix was performed to study the association between aspects of quality of life. Multivariate linear regressions were performed for modelling QoL scores.

RESULTS: Among the 106 subjects who responded to the questionnaire, 67 were senior surgeons (63.2%) and 39 were students (36.8%). The mean score on the Stress Traumatic Scale of the PROQOL was the only difference between groups and was found to be lower in the student group (19.9+/-6.9) in comparison to the senior surgeon group (22.9+/-8) (p=0.06). Interestingly, the mental health of the students was found to be improved with the highest score of mental health among the senior surgeons. Of particular interest is the observation that the burnout scale of the students was improved with the best score of the mental health of the senior surgeons.

CONCLUSION: This study advocates for a strong correlation between the QoL of senior surgeons and that of students.

PMID:41191143 | DOI:10.1007/s00423-025-03873-8