Level of hopelessness and related factors in upcoming medical work force

Background and purpose: Students in medical schools are under the great personal distress during their education. Likewise, medical or surgical residency can be a stressful and overwhelming period during which residents work long hours.  The aim of the study was to determine the level of hopelessness in the medical students and residents and to examine its relations with socio-demographic features and working conditions.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 203 medical students and 132 medical residents in Pamukkale University, Turkey. Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) was used to measure the level of hopelessness.Results: Women constituted 49.3% of the participants. 20.3% of the participants were younger than 20. 35.2% of the participants were in the lowest SES. The mean BHS score was 5.76±4.5. The score in medical residents (7.29±5.1) was higher than in the 1st (4.48±3.6), 3rd (4.13±3.4) and 6th grade medical students (5.4±4.1), (p<0.001). SES did not change the score. The score in the residents who worked  ‘≤40 hours’ weekly was 5.18±3.5; ‘between >40-≤60 hours’, 6.1±4.4; ‘between >60-≤100 hours’, 7.97±5.6; and ‘over 100 hours’, 9.67±5.6, (p=0.028). Multivariate analysis showed that weekly working hours of the residents was the most important factor affecting the score (p<0.001).Conclusions: The hopelessness level of the medical residents was the highest and weekly working hours was the main factor affecting the hopelessness levels in the medical residents.