Crying: Experiences and Attitudes of Third-Year Medical Students and Interns

Background: The medical socialization process is emotionally stressful for trainees; anecdotally, crying is a frequent response. Purposes: To understand the experiences and attitudes related to crying among 3rd-year medical students and interns. Methods: Web-based survey distributed to all 3rd-year medical students and interns at two medical schools and affiliated internal medicine residency programs. Results: Participation rates were 208/307 (68%) students and 93/126 (74%) interns. Sixty-nine percent of students and 74% of interns self-reported crying for reasons related to medicine. For both, the most common cause was "burnout." Although there were no significant differences in crying between students and interns (p = .38), twice as many women cried as men (93% vs. 44%, p < .001). Seventy-three percent of students and 68% of interns thought discussion of physicians' crying was inadequate. Conclusions: Crying is common among medical students and interns, especially women. Many consider it unprofessional to cry in front of patients and colleagues. Trainees want more discussions of crying.