Between vocation and exhaustion: Quantitative study of Burnout in first-year medical students.

Abstract

Academic Burnout in medical students has been identified as an early-onset phenomenon. The objective of this study was to describe its dimensions and analyze differences by sex in 233 first-year students at a public university in Sinaloa, Mexico. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was implemented. The Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS) was applied, and descriptive analyses and non-parametric tests were used. Moderate levels of emotional exhaustion, low levels of cynical attitude, and a strong perception of academic effectiveness were found. There were significant differences by sex in emotional exhaustion, with higher levels in women, without relevant associations with sociodemographic variables. It is concluded that academic burnout emerges early in life, with the emotional component predominating. The findings provide contextualized evidence for the early understanding of the phenomenon.