Improving wellness: Defeating Impostor syndrome in medical education using an interactive reflective workshop

Dotun Ogunyemi, Tommy Lee, Melissa Ma, Ashley Osuma, Mason Eghbali and Natalie Bouri

PLOS ONE, 2022, vol. 17, issue 8, 1-13

Abstract: Background: Impostor syndrome is characterized by fraudulent self-doubt and correlates with burnout, and adverse mental health. Objective: The objective was to investigate correlates of Impostor syndrome in a medical education cohort and determine if an interactive workshop can improve knowledge and perception of Impostor syndrome. Methods: From June 2019 to February 2021 interactive educational workshops were conducted for medical education cohorts. Participants completed baseline knowledge and Impostor syndrome self-identification surveys, participated in interactive presentations and discussions, followed by post-intervention surveys. Results: There were 198 participants including 19% residents, 10% medical students, 30% faculty and 41% Graduate Medical Education (GME) administrators. Overall, 57% were positive for Impostor syndrome. Participants classified as the following Impostor syndrome competence subtypes: Expert = 42%; Soloist = 34%; Super-person = 31%; Perfectionist = 25%; and Natural Genius = 21%. Self-identified contributors of IS included: parent expectations = 72%, female gender = 58%, and academic rat race = 37%. GME administrators compared to physicians/medical students had significantly higher number of self-identified contributors to Impostor syndrome. Knowledge survey scores increased from 4.94 (SD = 2.8) to 5.78 (2.48) post intervention (p = 0.045). Participants with Impostor syndrome competence subtypes had increased perceptions of Impostor syndrome as a cause of stress, failure to reach full potential, and negative relationships/teamwork (p = 0.032 -

Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0272496

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272496

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