Medical students face greater risk of burnout and are more likely to abandon their careers due to work pressures, a recent study of UAE undergraduates has found.
Researchers at UAE University collected data from 385 medical students across the country to assess the effects of training for a healthcare career that can take up to seven years.
Students completed a questionnaire and responded to the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) that measures physical and mental exhaustion.
During my training programme there were eight people at the start, but only three have seen it through to a career
Dr Sara Al Himairi,
Canadian Specialist Hospital, Dubai
Results showed that more than a fifth of students (21.6 per cent) were diagnosed with a mental illness during their studies, while 77 per cent screened positively for burnout.
It also found 81 per cent were disengaged, and 95 per cent reported feeling exhausted.
Although the medical profession is known to be more stressful than other careers, experts said UAE students felt greater strain than elsewhere.
Curriculum can be 'overwhelming'
“Research studies have indicated 37 per cent prevalence of burnout and stress in medical students worldwide — but this number tends to be higher in the UAE with figures reaching 75 per cent,” said Dr Shweta Misra, a clinical psychologist at the Priory Wellbeing Centre in Dubai.
“Stress rates are typically higher in medical students versus non-medical students, due to persistent imbalance between work demands and resources.
“Medical students spend long hours studying for exams that will determine their future.
“The medical curriculum is not simple and the stress of trying to comprehend the complex material can become overwhelming.”
Burnout is a familiar problem across the Gulf.
A recent survey by the McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) found two thirds of GCC residents experienced poor mental health and well-being.
Residents of Saudi Arabia had the highest instances of distress compared with the three other countries surveyed — UAE, Qatar and Kuwait — as well as the highest number of people reporting depression, anxiety and burnout.
Typical stress triggers for students, such as leaving home and losing contact with family and friends, were exacerbated by a medical degree, experts said.
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A heightened sense of responsibility in saving lives and not making mistakes even in the early stages of medical school is a common cause of anxiety for some.
Dr Sara Nourmahal, 27, from Iran, studied at the Crimean Medical State University for seven years, six of those were in medical school.
“During the training and internship in particular we face considerable challenges, mainly due to the workload,” said Dr Nourmahal, now in a one-year medical internship at a private hospital in Abu Dhabi which cost her Dh30,000.
“We worked in 12-hour shifts, often overnight, so the stress of dealing with uncertainty is real.
“When you are a student you are guided by the system, once you start practising you understand you are dealing with real lives every day.”
Uncertainty adds to anxiety
Dr Nourmahal said her biggest concern is where to go next once her internship is over.
“I studied in Russia, and the city where I studied is now under sanctions so I can’t go back there to train as a general surgeon, and it is very difficult to get into a residency programme here,” she said.
“It can be overwhelming and challenging, that is a fact.
“Stress can be healthy when it is motivating and keeps us aware, but it can become unhealthy.
“When I was in my third year at university, two juniors took their own lives.
“That was a real wake up call for the university so they paid more attention to mental health.”
Once qualified, the pressure of seeking work is added to postgraduate stress of a medical student who has usually accrued considerable costs.
High fees and long hours
Dr Ola Yassir Jassim, 25, from Iraq, graduated in 2020 from Gulf Medical University in Ajman after completing a five-year course in dentistry, and a year-long internship that she paid around Dh65,000 for. She is now in full time work at the Canadian Specialist Hospital.
“Each year cost around Dh110-120,000 in fees to study, so it was expensive,” she said.
“There was a lot of pressure on everything.
“I found studying in a group was a good way to manage stress, but some found it hard so became isolated.”
Dr Sara Al Himairi, from Canadian Specialist Hospital, Dubai, is an orthodontist completing a Master's degree after graduating from Ajman University.
“It has not been an easy time as I am also working part time in a private clinic,” she said.
“I try to juggle all aspects of my life, so pre-planning is very important so I can fit in my studies and exams.
“It is doable, as long as I take breaks — especially if I’m having a stressful week.
“Sometimes I feel my brain can’t take it any more.”
Dr Al Himairi, from Iraq, works six days week, with only Fridays off and combines her working day with an hour or two of study each evening.
“I need to sleep before an exam or presentation so I tend to stop at 12am, some colleagues keep working until 3am,” she said.
“Most days I am exhausted and when there are exams I can get anxious. There is a lot of disengagement.
“During my training programme there were eight people at the start, but only three have seen it through to a career.
“Some have left and gone into a career in social media or marketing instead.”
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Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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