Factors That Support or Undermine Well-Being During USMLE Step 1 Preparation: A Text Mining Approach

• In Event: Well-Being and Emotional Development in Professions Education

Abstract

Preparing for the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) sequence is often a stressful time for medical students that may lead to mental and physical health difficulties. An open-ended web-based questionnaire was developed to explore factors that contribute to student well-being during their USMLE Step 1 preparation. 477 medical students responded to the survey (response rate of 29.8%). Responses were analyzed using two text mining methods: topic modeling and sentiment analysis. Overall, some students engaged in a variety of well-being promoting activities, while others felt they had to forgo certain activities due to perceived time pressure in favor of studying for Step 1. These results may help inform school-level interventions aimed at supporting students as they prepare for licensure examinations.

Authors

• Magdalen Ann Beiting-Parrish, CUNY Graduate Center

• Ulana A. Luciw-Dubas, National Board of Medical Examiners

• Monica M. Cuddy, National Board of Medical Examiners

• Christopher Runyon, National Board of Medical Examiners