Personal and peer wellbeing
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Doctors and medical students must look after their own health; it’s essential to maintain physical and mental wellbeing in order to ensure that patient care is safe, effective and sustainable.
It is a legal and professional obligation for doctors and medical students to prioritise their own health.
Poor health has a number of potential consequences. It can:
- Impair judgement
- Inhibit performance and limit the quality of care
- Put patient safety at risk
When they start to see patients in clinical settings, medical students may experience high stress levels and mental health challenges.
Despite being excellent students, medical students must learn to deal with challenges in the clinical environment.
Medical students should access support services when needed for physical and mental health care. Academic and clinical supervisors can reassure about confidentiality and challenge the stigma that sometimes prevents medical students from looking after their own health.
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Supervising doctors should model healthy behaviours and self-care. They can set a positive example for junior doctors and medical students alike.
Anyone on the medical team can benefit from mentoring and mental health services. These services improve resilience and wellbeing.
Patient outcomes depend on the health of doctors and medical students treating them. Taking steps to protect the health of medical professionals ensures better health for patients.
You’ll find guidance for doctors on the topic of competence in the Achieving Good Medical Practice booklet.
- Prioritise wellbeing – Recognise when health issues may affect your ability to work safely and take appropriate action to address them.
- Seek independent advice – Consult a qualified healthcare professional rather than relying on self-diagnosis or treatment.
- Follow occupational health policies – Comply with workplace health requirements, including vaccinations and health screenings, to protect yourself and patients.
- Monitor your fitness to practice – Be aware of how your physical or mental health may impact patient care and take steps to manage risks.
- Take action on impairment – If health concerns affect your performance, modify your workload, seek support or step back from clinical duties if necessary.
Achieving Good Medical Practice states that students must take steps to safeguard their own health. These include:
- Taking responsibility for your wellbeing – Recognise when your physical or mental health may impact your studies or placements, and seek appropriate support when needed.
- Consulting a qualified healthcare professional – Do not self-diagnose or self-treat; instead, seek independent medical advice from a GP or other qualified professional rather than relying on personal knowledge, peers or family members.
- Following occupational health requirements – Comply with medical school policies, including vaccinations, health screenings and fitness-to-study assessments, to ensure patient and personal safety.
- Engaging with support services – If struggling with stress, illness, or personal difficulties, proactively use university wellbeing services, mentors, or tutors for guidance and assistance.
Some scenarios have key issues related to the health of students or doctors.
Doctors and medical students have a responsibility to monitor and safeguard their own health, as well as the health of their patients.
Scenarios with this key issue area often involve a doctor or medical student who is falling sick and has to decide whether to go home or remain on shift, or a doctor or medical student with an underlying health issue who is worried that their career will be negatively impacted should they disclose it.
Sometimes, the most professional response a doctor or medical student can take is to admit they’re having a hard time and ask for help if they’re in trouble.
Walkthrough question
Appropriateness - Student health
Let’s work through a regular Appropriateness set with a key issue related to student health.
The safety of students and doctors means that they must take steps to protect their physical and mental wellbeing in order to ensure effective learning, ethical practice and safe patient care.
Doctors and medical students have a legal and ethical requirement to prioritise their own safety and wellbeing.
Doctors and medical students must be protected from workplace hazards and harassment.
Safe working environments are essential for effective learning and patient care.
Doctors have a duty to enforce safety protocols and model best practices for medical students and the rest of the clinical team.
Medical students should join in open discussions about safety and develop vigilance and responsibility for the safety of themselves and their team.
A culture of safety plays a part in reducing burnout and improving retention in medicine.
Protecting healthcare workers and medical students ensures the sustainability of the NHS.
Guidance for maintaining the safety of doctors is covered in the Achieving Good Medical Practice booklet:
- Prioritise wellbeing – Doctors must recognise and address their own health needs, seeking independent medical advice rather than relying on self-assessment.
- Manage occupational risks – Doctors should comply with occupational health policies, including vaccinations and screening, to prevent risks to themselves and patients.
- Raise safety concerns – Doctors have a duty to report risks to their own safety or wellbeing, as well as concerns about colleagues who may not be fit to practise.
- Maintain work-life balance – Doctors must take steps to manage stress and seek support when needed, ensuring they remain fit to work safely.
- Follow safe working practices – Doctors should follow infection control measures, avoid working when unfit due to illness and ensure safe delegation and supervision.
The Achieving Good Medical Practice booklet includes guidance addressed to students on the subject of maintaining their safety:
- Prioritise personal wellbeing – Recognise when your health or stress levels may impact your studies or clinical work and seek support from your medical school or healthcare professionals when needed.
- Follow health and safety policies – Comply with occupational health requirements, including vaccinations and infection control measures, to protect yourself and patients.
- Recognise and manage risks – Be aware of potential hazards in clinical settings, follow safe working practices and raise concerns about unsafe environments.
- Seek help when unwell – If your physical or mental health is affecting your ability to study or attend placements, inform your medical school and follow professional advice rather than self-diagnosing or self-treating.
Scenarios with key issues related to the safety of doctors or students commonly focus on one or both of these points:
- A doctor or medical student’s responsibility to keep themselves safe
- A doctor or medical student’s responsibility to maintain the safety of their colleagues and peers
If your own safety is at risk, you have a duty to take immediate, urgent steps to reduce the danger you are facing.
If a colleague’s safety is at risk, you have a duty to intervene in a direct and timely manner, while ensuring their own safety is not compromised by your doing so.
Physical attacks on doctors and medical students in clinical settings are a serious problem in real life.
When threats to a student or doctor’s safety are serious, calling security is often the best option.
Some scenarios will feature intoxicated or erratic patients who are resisting treatment or are otherwise being abusive to staff. Factors that prioritise the wellbeing of students and doctors tend to be important.
Gauging the consequences of a particular response will often be the difference between a C or D answer. If there is a risk of someone being physically hurt as a result of a response, it is almost always highly inappropriate.
Walkthrough question
Importance - Safety of students/doctors
Let’s work through an Importance set featuring a problem related to the safety of a student.
Coping with pressure means that doctors and medical students have a professional obligation to manage stress effectively to maintain wellbeing, ensure patient safety and uphold professional standards.
Poor stress management can lead to burnout and impaired performance. On the clinical team, this can create a risk for patient health and safety.
Medical students must learn to develop resilience to handle clinical challenges.
Effective coping will help to enhance learning and decision making and improve mental health.
You’ll find guidance for doctors on the topic of dealing with pressure in the Achieving Good Medical Practice booklet:
- Recognise personal limits – Acknowledge when workload, fatigue or stress is affecting your performance, decision-making or patient safety, and take appropriate action.
- Prioritise patient safety – Avoid taking on more than you can manage safely and seek support if pressure is impacting your ability to provide high-quality care.
- Manage time effectively – Organise workload, delegate appropriately and focus on key priorities, ensuring that care remains efficient and safe under pressure.
- Seek support when needed – Engage with supervisors, colleagues or professional support services if workplace pressure is affecting your mental health or wellbeing.
- Maintain professional boundaries – Recognise when external pressures, including personal, organisational or patient demands, could compromise ethical decision-making or care quality.
Achieving Good Medical Practice includes specific guidance for students on the topic of dealing with pressure:
- Recognise and manage stress – Develop healthy coping strategies for handling the demands of medical training and seek support when needed.
- Acknowledge your limits – If pressure affects your performance, be honest about your capabilities and ask for help from supervisors or support services.
- Maintain work-life balance – Prioritise time management, self-care and reflection to sustain both academic performance and personal wellbeing.
- Use available support systems – Engage with medical school services, mentors or peers for guidance and emotional support when facing challenges.
The key issues in some scenarios relate to coping with pressure or stress.
Doctors and medical students often find themselves in situations where they are under pressure.
Consider the following principles when tackling these scenarios:
- Doctors and medical students must look after their health and that of their colleagues and peers.
- They should seek help if in trouble.
- They should support others in trouble.
- They must not excuse people’s behaviour because of pressures they are facing.
Walkthrough question
Importance - Dealing with pressure
Let’s look at an Importance set featuring a key issue related to dealing with pressure.
Drug misuse by doctors and medical students is a concern as it directly impacts professional competence and patient safety.
This includes taking illegal drugs and misuse of prescribed drugs, as well as alcohol abuse or excessive drinking that compromises clinical care.
Be aware that alcohol is a psychoactive drug. While anyone of age can participate in legal, social drinking, ethical issues arise when someone is drinking in the workplace or potentially intoxicated or impaired when seeing or treating patients.
Substance misuse can impair decision making along with clinical performance, posing a real risk to patient safety.
Doctors are expected to model healthy coping strategies and responsible behaviour, including with their alcohol consumption on personal time.
Medical students must be alert to the risks of alcohol abuse and drug misuse and seek help if needed.
Doctors and medical students should be ready to identify and address these issues in themselves and others. The priority is not only to protect patients but also to foster support and intervention.
You’ll find guidance for doctors on the topic of drug misuse in the Achieving Good Medical Practice booklet:
- Avoid substance misuse – Never use, possess or supply illegal drugs and do not misuse prescription or recreational substances in a way that could affect your work.
- Recognise professional risks – Understand that drug misuse can impair judgment, decision-making and patient safety, putting both your career and patients at risk.
- Seek help if needed – Access professional support, occupational health or addiction services if you are struggling with substance use or dependency.
- Report concerns about colleagues – Raise concerns if a colleague’s drug use may compromise patient care, following workplace policies on reporting.
- Maintain patient trust – Be honest about any issues related to drug misuse and comply with medical, legal and regulatory requirements to protect patients and uphold professionalism.
The Achieving Good Medical Practice booklet contains guidance specifically aimed at students on the topic of drug misuse:
- Avoid drug misuse – Medical students must not misuse prescription medications, illegal substances or legal highs, as this can impact their health, studies and future fitness to practise.
- Never attend placements under the influence – Being intoxicated while attending clinical placements, lectures or assessments is a serious breach of professionalism and may lead to disciplinary action.
- Seek help if struggling – If you are experiencing issues with substance misuse, you must seek support from your medical school or a healthcare professional rather than trying to manage it alone.
Drug misuse is another key issue area that appears in scenarios.
Illegal substance or alcohol misuse is a severe fitness-to-practise concern.
If there is a chance that patient safety is being compromised, doctors and medical students must act immediately.
It is also important to support colleagues experiencing addiction-related issues.
Walkthrough question
Importance - Drug misuse
Let’s look at an Importance set featuring a key issue related to drug misuse.
Doctors and medical students must be aware when they need to ask for help. In medical training and practice, seeking support means recognising personal and professional limits and asking for help when it is required, thereby ensuring safe, effective patient care.
Doctors and medical students have a legal and ethical requirement to seek help when facing difficulties.
Everyone needs support from time to time. Support is essential for maintaining mental health and preventing burnout.
Asking for guidance helps to protect patients and safeguard clinical care.
Medical students must seek support when learning new procedures and skills.
Doctors must provide structured supervision and mentorship. This allows medical students to develop their abilities and confidence and to perform unfamiliar tasks safely.
Many institutional resources are available to medical students at their university and on clinical placements. Resources include academic and clinical supervisors and clinical colleagues. Asking for help when needed means using these resources to enhance learning and resilience.
Doctors are expected to continue learning throughout their careers.
Adapting to new techniques and technologies will require active learning and collaboration.
Doctors should embrace professional humility and continuous self-improvement. Medical students can model these qualities as they adapt to ongoing learning.
Guidance for doctors on the issue of seeking support is included in the Achieving Good Medical Practice booklet:
- Seek clinical support – Ask for advice or assistance when faced with a complex case, ethical dilemma or uncertainty, ensuring safe and effective patient care.
- Get help in difficult interactions – Seek support if a patient interaction is emotionally distressing, abusive or challenging, including cases of violence or ethical conflicts.
- Consult on competence limits – Reach out to a senior colleague when your knowledge or skills are insufficient for a task, rather than working beyond your abilities.
- Address workplace stress – Raise concerns if fatigue, pressure or stress begin to impact your judgement, performance or patient safety.
- Utilise mentoring and supervision – Engage with mentors, supervisors or peer support when developing new skills, handling conflicts or navigating career challenges.
The Achieving Good Medical Practice booklet highlights several responsibilities of students on the topic of seeking support:
- Ask for help when uncertain – Recognise the limits of your knowledge and skills and always seek supervision before attempting anything beyond your competence.
- Report health or wellbeing concerns – If your physical or mental health is affecting your ability to study or train, inform your medical school and access appropriate support.
- Raise concerns about patient safety – If you witness unsafe practices or feel a patient’s wellbeing is at risk, follow your medical school’s policy for raising concerns.
- Use mentorship and guidance – Engage with teachers, tutors and peers for feedback, career advice and professional development when facing challenges.
Some scenarios have key issues related to the need to seek support.
In these scenarios, asking for help is not just an option to be considered, but a crucial step that must be taken in order to prevent serious consequences.
Recognising when they need to ask for help is important for medical practitioners at all levels, no matter their seniority.
Picture a consultant encountering a new piece of technology for the first time – despite their many years of experience, they must reach out for support if a patient’s care is at risk due to a gap in their knowledge.
All doctors and medical students must act within their competence and understand their limitations.
Factors or responses that prioritise patient wellbeing in this context are important or appropriate.
Factors or responses that endanger patient wellbeing by overlooking the need to ask for support must not be considered or are very inappropriate.
Walkthrough question
Importance - Seeking support
Let’s look at an Importance set featuring a key issue related to seeking support.