Advances in Medical Education and Practice

Dove Medical Press is pleased to invite you to submit your research to an upcoming Article Collection on "Thriving in Training: Mental Health and Wellbeing of Health Professional Students and Trainees" in Advances in Medical Education and Practice.

The mental health of medical students and postgraduate trainees is a growing area of concern and opportunity. As future healthcare providers, they are often exposed to intense academic demands, long working hours, severe competition, and high emotional stress - all of which can impact their wellbeing and mental health. In light of current workforce shortages and growing demands on healthcare systems, it is more important than ever to prepare medical students and trainees to become adaptable doctors who can sustain their wellbeing throughout their careers. By fostering supportive learning and working climates, institutions can help future doctors thrive in the face of professional challenges - ensuring they are not only clinically competent, but also mentally prepared for the realities of modern medical practice. These environment plays a crucial role in promoting mental wellbeing and reducing stigma around seeking help, empowering students and trainees to manage their mental health proactively.

Research into the mental health of medical students and postgraduate trainees is essential for understanding the unique challenges they face and developing effective strategies to support their wellbeing. Mental health issues can significantly impact students’ personal lives, leading to emotional distress, impaired relationships, and reduced academic performance. Left unaddressed, these challenges can also compromise clinical judgment, empathy, and communication skills - ultimately threatening the quality and safety of patient care. Furthermore, mental health issues can cause students and trainees to drop-out of their education and training, jeopardizing our already understaffed healthcare workforce even further. Institutions must therefore prioritize creating supportive learning environments alongside the design and implementation of evidence-based interventions that promote wellbeing, reduce stigma, encourage help-seeking, minimize attrition, and ultimately foster a healthier, more effective medical workforce capable of meeting growing healthcare demands.

This Article Collection will focus on understanding and improving medical students’ and trainees’ mental health. Theoretical as well as practical contributions are welcomed. Subtopics include, but are not limited to:

• The role of learning and working environments and institutional culture: investigating how curriculum design, assessment practices, student-teacher relationships, institutional or organizational culture and study or working conditions influence mental wellbeing.
• Help-seeking and barriers to support: examining barriers to seeking help and identifying strategies to overcome these barriers.
• Interventions to help students and trainees thrive: focusing on ways to build psychological resilience, self-care practices, self-compassion, peer support programs and other initiatives that can help foster long-term wellbeing.
• Mental health, attrition and workforce: addressing the impact of mental health issues on academic performance and drop-out as well as on building a sustainable workforce.
• Mental health and quality of care: examining the impact of mental health on patient safety and quality of care.

All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo full peer-review; Guest Advisors will not be handling submitted articles. Please review the journal’s aims and scope and author instructions prior to submission.

Please submit your manuscript through the Dovepress website. During submission, enter the promo code DAD72 to indicate that your article should be considered for this Collection.

Please contact Francis Straw at [email protected] with any queries and discount codes regarding this Article Collection.

The manuscript submission deadline is 31 May 2026.

Guest advisors

Dr. Milou Silkens, Erasmus University 

[email protected]

Dr. Milou Silkens is an Assistant Professor in the Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management at the Erasmus University in the Netherlands. She holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Health Sciences and a PhD in Medical Education. Her work centres on workforce issues in healthcare, with a strong focus on the impact of digital transformation and how technological innovations can support healthcare delivery and improve doctors’ working conditions. She also examines the mental health of healthcare professionals and medical students, aiming to better understand how to achieve a resilient and future-ready workforce.

Dr. Asta Medisauskaite, University College London

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Dr. Asta Medisauskaite is a Principal Research Fellow at UCL Medical School. She obtained her PhD in Organizational Psychology from Birkbeck, University of London, on understanding and improving the occupational health of medical doctors. Her research continues to explore the mental health and wellbeing of both medical students and doctors. She is particularly interested in how psychological and organizational factors shape their experiences, from training through to long-term career development. Through her work, she aims to create a healthier and more sustainable medical careers, through better understanding mental health and attrition in the healthcare workforce.

Dr. Renée Scheepers, Erasmus University 

[email protected]

Dr. Renée Scheepers is an Assistant Professor in Health Workforce Well-being at the Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management. She is an occupational health psychologist focusing on clarifying and improving well-being of healthcare professionals (and medical) students. Specifically, she performs research on the effects of working conditions and healthcare provider well-being on patient care quality.

 

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Dove Medical Press is pleased to invite you to submit your research to an upcoming Article Collection on "Transformative Learning: The Next Step in Medical Education" in Advances in Medical Education and Practice.

Medical education finds itself at a crossroads. As healthcare systems grow increasingly complex, facing pressures from demographic shifts, rising costs, and enduring and increasing health disparities, educators are called to prepare future professionals not only to function within these systems, but to transform them. Traditional pedagogical models often fall short in equipping learners with the mindset, competencies, adaptability, and critical consciousness needed for a role as change agent. Transformative learning theory offers a compelling response. Rooted in fostering deep, structural shifts in perspective, this educational approach enables learners to question assumptions, engage in critical reflection, and develop the capacity to act ethically and innovatively in the face of uncertainty. As medical education seeks to remain relevant and future-oriented, the integration of transformative learning becomes increasingly vital.

Embracing transformative learning in medical education is not merely theoretical: it is a practical necessity. Healthcare professionals must be prepared to navigate moral complexity, collaborate across and beyond academic disciplines, and confront the hidden curriculum that shapes professional identity. Transformative learning encourages these capabilities by supporting learners in making meaning from experience, developing agency, and challenging existing power structures. When integrated into medical education, it fosters a culture of continuous learning, critical inquiry, and social responsibility. Such a shift can enhance professional resilience, promote equity in care, and ultimately contribute to the sustainability of healthcare systems. In doing so, transformative learning has the potential to empower healthcare workers not just to adapt to change, but to lead it.

This Article Collection invites contributions that explore the integration, theory, and practice of transformative learning in medical education. We welcome a range of article types, including empirical research (both qualitative and quantitative), conceptual papers, case studies, curriculum innovation reports, and commentaries. Submissions may address topics such as the design of transformative learning environments, critical reflection practices on transformative learning theory, inter- and trans-disciplinary education, the role of the hidden curriculum, embodied learning, and the development of change agency and change makers among learners. Contributions should align with the journal’s focus on advancing health professions education through scholarship and innovation. By gathering diverse perspectives and experiences, this collection aims to shape a new narrative in health professions education, one that places transformation at its core.

All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo full peer-review; Guest Advisors will not be handling submitted articles. Please review the journal’s aims and scope and author instructions prior to submission.

Please submit your manuscript through the Dovepress website. During submission, enter the promo code F1E5A to indicate that your article should be considered for this Collection. The manuscript submission deadline is 31 July 2026.

Please contact Francis Straw at [email protected] with any queries and discount codes regarding this Article Collection.

Guest advisors

Dr. Efraim Hart, OLVG / VU University, Amsterdam, Netherlands

[email protected]

Dr. Efraim Hart is a medical doctor, a PhD-candidate, and education consultant from the Netherlands. His research is focused on health activism and transformative learning.

Dr. Frederique Demeijer, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

[email protected]

Dr. Frederique Demeijer is an assistant professor at the Athena Institute of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her research and education are centred around complex societal issues, which she aims to address by working together with diverse groups in a transdisciplinary setting. Her current research focuses on transformative learning, inter- and transdisciplinary education and research, competency development, and community engaged learning.

Prof. Dr. Fedde Scheele, University of Amsterdam & Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands

[email protected]

Prof. Dr. Fedde Scheele is Dean of ACTA (Faculty of Dentistry, Amsterdam), Professor of Health Systems Innovation and Education at VU University Amsterdam, and Chair of European Foundation for Women’s Health. His research focuses on designing socially relevant, future-oriented healthcare education, and his goal is to deliver respectful healthcare in an open culture where education, research, and societal responsibility flourish.

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Dove Medical Press is pleased to invite you to submit your research to an upcoming Article Collection on "Education and Training in Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine: Current Challenges and Future Directions" in Advances in Medical Education and Practice.

Anesthesia and intensive care medicine are rapidly evolving disciplines in which patient safety, technological advancement, and increasing clinical complexity place high demands on clinicians. High-quality education and training are therefore essential to ensure not only technical proficiency, but also strong decision-making, communication, and teamwork skills. In recent years, training frameworks have increasingly moved toward competency-based approaches that emphasize clearly defined outcomes and demonstrated clinical competence rather than time-based progression. This shift aims to improve transparency, consistency, and quality of training across diverse healthcare systems. However, it also requires adaptation of curricula, teaching strategies, and assessment methods, as well as an expanded role for educators as facilitators, assessors, and role models. Exploring effective approaches to education and professional development is thus central to sustaining excellence in anesthesia and intensive care medicine.

This is important because anesthesia and intensive care medicine have a direct impact on patient safety and perioperative outcomes in high-risk clinical settings. As patients become older and more complex and technologies more advanced, clinicians must be equipped to deliver safe, effective care under pressure. Modern, competency-based training supports the acquisition of both technical expertise and essential non-technical skills such as decision-making, communication, and teamwork. Clear and standardized training frameworks promote consistency, quality, and equity across institutions and healthcare systems, while also reducing errors and improving outcomes. Investing in education and professional development in anesthesia and intensive care is therefore a core patient safety and healthcare quality priority.

The general theme of this Article Collection is the contemporary approach to medical education in anesthesia and intensive care. Topics of interest include curriculum development, innovative and interactive teaching strategies, modern assessment methods, integration of non-technical skills, simulation-based education, and the development of new standards that promote fair, equitable, and patient-centred care. All article types are welcome, including viewpoints, narrative or systematic reviews, original research, surveys, and observational studies.
Keywords

• Anesthesiology education
• Intensive care training
• Competency-based medical education
• Curriculum development
• Professional development

Please review the journal’s aims and scope and author instructions prior to submission. Please submit your manuscript through the Dovepress website. During submission, enter the promo code 3B60D to indicate that your article should be considered for this Collection. The manuscript submission deadline is 31 March 2027.

Please contact Francis Straw at [email protected] with any queries and discount codes regarding this Article Collection.

Guest advisor

Professor Vojislava Neskovic is a staff anesthetist and Associate Professor of Anesthesia and Intensive Care at the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade, Serbia. Since 2012, she has also contributed to the ESAIC Teach the Teachers (TTT) Masterclass, where she is a member of the TTT Masterclass Committee. Professor Neskovic is one of the authors of the UEMS European Training Requirements for the specialty of anesthesiology, pain, and intensive care medicine. She serves as an examiner for the Part Two EDAIC (European Diploma in Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care) and hosts the Part One (written) EDAIC examination in Belgrade. Currently, she is a member of the EACTA Thoracic Subcommittee, represents Serbia as a Council Member of the ESAIC, and is a member of the WFSA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee.

 

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