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New doctors face reality check

New doctors face reality check

More than a third of WA medical interns are struggling with depression, according to new research.

A study of more than 500 medical students and interns from 2012 and 2013 found that rates of self-reported depression jumped from 27 per cent in final year students to 35 per cent in those on internships in hospitals.

Rates of suicidal thoughts also jumped 50 per cent as students moved to more clinical work as part of their course, with almost one in 10 fourth-year students reporting feeling vulnerable.

University of WA medical honours student Binu Jayawardena tracked students in their third, fourth and sixth years, as well as 113 interns who graduated from UWA or Notre Dame University.

He said few studies had looked at depression in medical students and interns but anecdotal evidence suggested they had higher rates of depression than the general public.

His results back up that belief, suggesting the move to more clinical work could be psychologically distressing for some students.

"The most pressing issue is that the rate of depression across the whole group nominally was much larger than in the general population," Mr Jayawardena said.

"That rate went up in interns, and we also saw an increase in suicidal ideation from Year 3 to Year 4, and some of that may reflect what happens when students go into the hospital system for the first time.

"Another important issue is the attitude to self-care, because roughly only 30 per cent of students would seek medical help if they had symptoms of clinical depression, and only slightly more interns, so many are just ignoring it."

Mr Jayawardena said previous research suggested there was a lot of stigma in the medical profession about admitting to having mental health issues.

The findings, presented at the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists annual congress in Brisbane this week, coincide with the setting up of a new confidential service to improve the health of doctors and medical students.

The Medical Board of Australia and the Australian Medical Association have signed a deal to contract out advice and referral health programs. They said the services would be at arm's length from the board, so doctors and medical students could use them without concerns about being reported.

If you or someone you know is thinking of suicide, phone Lifeline on 13 11 14.