Metz C J, Ballard E, Metz M J. The Stress of Success: An Online Module to Help First-Year Dental Students Cope With the Impostor Phenomenon. J Dent Educ 2020; DOI: 10.1002/jdd.12181.

Online training module can improve awareness of the impostor phenomenon and help high-achieving students to cope with their stress and feelings of inadequacy.

Educators often spend a great deal of time counselling poorly performing students, which limits the time dedicated to high achievers. Gifted students may be susceptible to feelings of inadequacy despite positive external evidence - impostor phenomenon (IP). This study published an online module to educate dental students about IP and provided six coping mechanisms. After viewing the video at the beginning of the semester, students completed the Clance IP Scale to determine the prevalence of IP thoughts. This was repeated at the end of the semester. The percentage of students reporting intense impostor experiences decreased from 13.6% to 4.9%. Females exhibited significantly higher scores than males. The most common reported coping strategies were a reduction in time spent on nonessential tasks and the use of scheduling to prevent procrastination.