There have been many studies demonstrating that medical students experience higher rates of depression, burnout, anxiety, and suicidal ideation compared to same-aged peers in the general population.
More recent studies have also shown how COVID has brought about unprecedented challenges which have affected the mental wellbeing of Americans and those in the healthcare field.
Since 2018, Sharpen co-founders have had the honor and privilege of collaborating with researchers at Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine to develop peer-focused documentary film programs that decrease mental health stigma among medical students and improve resilience. Today we are thrilled to announce that Resiliency Technologies and VCOM received a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Garrett Lee Smith #suicideprevention grant to provide Sharpen Minds mental health awareness and suicide prevention training to all 4 campuses of medical students enrolled at VCOM.
Our team will continue to increase awareness and education about mental health literacy and substance use disorders, and promote help-seeking behavior among the med students. We will also continue to design and implement peer-focused documentary film educational modules in the “Mindful MEDS” application to promote life skills, resiliency, and social connectedness.
Most importantly, we will collaborate with national experts in suicide prevention Suicide Prevention Resource Center to provide specific training to care teams in terms of crisis intervention and response.
Since launching the Suicide Prevention Task Force in Spartanburg County in 2017, our team has been on a mission to ensure that health professionals, educators and families receive the most up-to-date training about suicide prevention. We are grateful to SAMSHA for the opportunity to keep pushing forward with that work and assisting the next generation of frontline health workers who must be prepared to address their own mental wellbeing while assisting with these critical mental health issues in the field.
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