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Evidence for a mental health crisis in graduate education

Nature Biotechnology volume 36, pages 282–284 (2018)Cite this article

With mental illness a growing concern within graduate education, data from a new survey should prompt both academia and policy makers to consider intervention strategies.

There is a growing cry for help from graduate students across the globe who struggle with significant mental health concerns1. Despite increased discussion of the topic, there remains a dire need to resolve our understanding of the mental health issues in the trainee population.

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Figure 1: The prevalence of anxiety and depression within the population of graduate students studied.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank D. Story, Markey Cancer Center Research Communications Office, for graphic design assistance; P. Chambers of Versatile PhD for her comments on and aid in distributing the study survey; D. Weiss, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) at UT Health San Antonio for his guidance; and the GSBS for providing partial funding for the study. Lastly, the authors dedicate this body of work to all graduate trainees who persevere in silence to overcome mental health struggles.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Department of Pharmacology, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA

    Teresa M Evans

  2. Department of Psychiatry, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA

    Lindsay Bira

  3. Department of Biology, St. Mary's University, San Antonio, Texas, USA

    Jazmin Beltran Gastelum

  4. Markey Cancer Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA

    L Todd Weiss & Nathan L Vanderford

  5. Department of Toxicology & Cancer Biology, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky, USA

    Nathan L Vanderford

Authors
  1. Teresa M Evans
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  2. Lindsay Bira
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  3. Jazmin Beltran Gastelum
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  4. L Todd Weiss
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  5. Nathan L Vanderford
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Teresa M Evans or Nathan L Vanderford.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Evans, T., Bira, L., Gastelum, J. et al. Evidence for a mental health crisis in graduate education. Nat Biotechnol 36, 282–284 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.4089

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