Uncovering the compounding effects of COVID-19 and racism on mental health disparities among biomedical PhD and MD students

The increasing visibility of mental health challenges for academic and graduate trainee populations has led to discussion of the role higher education institutions should play to address trainee mental health, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing racial injustice. To address the growing concern about training impacts on medical and biomedical doctoral trainee mental health, a cross-sectional study (n=957) was conducted using institutional annual survey data analyzed by type of training program, race/ethnicity, and survey year on measures of depression, anxiety, hazardous alcohol use, problems related to substance use, and suicidal ideation. Results indicated significant differences for rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation, with biomedical doctoral trainees showing greater incidence than medical doctoral trainees, and underrepresented minority trainees showing greater incidence than well-represented trainees. The concerningly high rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation among these trainee populations suggest that medical and biomedical doctoral training environments must be transformed in addition to expanding mental health support resources.