{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]],"date-time":"2026-01-09T20:33:58Z","timestamp":1767990838591,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,9]],"date-time":"2025-01-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1736380800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative effect on population mental health. Medical students may have been particularly affected, whom prevalence of mental health conditions was already high before the pandemic hit, due to the difficult and stressful academic programme. In Northern Ireland specifically, mental well-being levels are the lowest across the UK; however limited research exists examining the medical student cohort. This study explores Northern Irish medical students\u2019 perceptions on how the pandemic affected their mental health, their progress within medical education and perceived barriers to accessing support services in Northern Ireland.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>A qualitative study of phenomenological design involving 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted amongst individuals who were 1st-4th year medical students when the pandemic was officially declared in Northern Ireland in March 2020. The interviews were transcribed, and thematic analysis was carried out using NVivo V12 qualitative data analysis software.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Results demonstrated the COVID-19 pandemic had a considerable negative impact on participants\u2019 mental health; a variety of interlinked social, individual and\/or psychological and organisational factors led to increased levels of stress, anxiety and depression. This had a secondary negative impact on participants\u2019 medical education progress through reducing motivation, causing burnout and impostor syndrome. Unexpectedly; there were some perceived positive outcomes, including improved appreciation for work-life balance and resilience. Participants reported various barriers to seeking help amongst this difficult time period; also categorizable into social, individual and\/or psychological and organisational factors, for example; stigmatisation, fear and perfectionistic tendencies.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Discussion and conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>There is a pressing demand for heightened support availability, personally tailored mental health assistance and an effort to reduce mental health stigma in Northern Ireland. This study highlights the complex multifactorial nature of mental health. Medical schools must provide additional services to protect well-being during particularly challenging periods and dismantle the barriers preventing individuals from accessing vital support.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0314115","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,9]],"date-time":"2025-01-09T18:48:15Z","timestamp":1736448495000},"page":"e0314115","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Exploring the perceptions of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental well-being and medical education of medical students in Northern Ireland, in addition to the perceived barriers to seeking support; a qualitative study"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-2939-6147","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Claire","family":"Whiteside","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8451-5065","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Gonnie","family":"Klabbers","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,9]]},"reference":[{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0314115.ref001","article-title":"COVID-19 Staff Wellbeing Survey: longitudinal survey of psychological well-being among health and social care staff in Northern Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic.","volume":"7","author":"J-A Jordan","year":"2021","journal-title":"BJPsych Open."},{"key":"pone.0314115.ref002","article-title":"The impact of COVID-19 on mental health cannot be made light of.","author":"WHO","year":"2022","journal-title":"Who.int"},{"key":"pone.0314115.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"35","DOI":"10.5116\/ijme.6209.10d6","article-title":"Medical education and mental health during COVID-19: a survey across 9 countries.","volume":"13","author":"D Michaeli","year":"2022","journal-title":"Int J Med Educ"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0314115.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"240","DOI":"10.18683\/germs.2020.1210","article-title":"Impact of COVID-19 on medical students in the United Kingdom.","volume":"10","author":"S Rainbow","year":"2020","journal-title":"Germs"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0314115.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"137","DOI":"10.1016\/S2215-0366(21)00395-3","article-title":"Global, regional, and national burden of 12 mental disorders in 204 countries and territories, 1990\u20132019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019","volume":"9","year":"2022","journal-title":"Lancet Psychiatry"},{"issue":"15","key":"pone.0314115.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2735","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph16152735","article-title":"The global prevalence of anxiety among medical students: A meta-analysis","volume":"16","author":"Tam Quek","year":"2019","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"issue":"e10164","key":"pone.0314115.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e10164","DOI":"10.7717\/peerj.10164","article-title":"Impact of COVID-19 outbreak on the mental health status of undergraduate medical students in a COVID-19 treating medical college: a prospective longitudinal study.","volume":"8","author":"I Saraswathi","year":"2020","journal-title":"PeerJ."},{"issue":"103228","key":"pone.0314115.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103228","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nepr.2021.103228","article-title":"Prevalence of mental health problems and sleep disturbances in nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis.","volume":"57","author":"M Mulyadi","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nurse Educ Pract"},{"key":"pone.0314115.ref009","article-title":"More than 80% of medical students with mental health issues feel under-supported, says Student BMJ survey","volume":"h4521","author":"M. 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