Imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon including self-doubt and the fear of being exposed as an intellectual fraud. Imposter syndrome has been garnering increasing attention in recent years, with more studies indicating its high prevalence in physicians and medical students and is positively correlated with adverse psychological states such as burnout, anxiety, and depression. Yet, there are currently no studies of relevant research in China. This article reviews the current literature on the prevalence and associated factors of imposter syndrome among physicians and medical students, as well as its positive and negative effects and intervention strategies, and points out directions for future research to promote mental health among physicians and medical students.
[1] Clance PR, Imes S. The imposter phenomenon in high achieving women: dynamics and therapeutic intervention[J]. Psychother Theory Res Pract,1978,15(3):241-247.
[2]Villwock JA, Sobin LB, Koester LA, et al. Impostor syndrome and burnout among American medical students: a pilot study[J].Int J Med Educ,2016,7:364-369. DOI: 10.5116/ijme.5801.eac4.
[3] Vilchez-Cornejo J, Romani L, Chávez-Bustamante SG, et al. Imposter syndrome and its associated factors in medical students in six peruvian faculties[J]. Rev Colomb Psiquiatr (Engl Ed),2023,52(2):113-120. DOI:10.1016/j.rcp.2021.04.011.
[4] Mak K, Kleitman S, Abbott MJ. Impostor phenomenon measurement scales: a systematic review[J].Front Psychol,2019,10:671. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00671.
[5]Alrayyes S, Dar UF, Alrayes M, et al. Burnout and imposter syndrome among Saudi young adults. The strings in the puppet show of psychological morbidity[J].Saudi Med J,2020,41(2):189-194. DOI: 10.15537/smj.2020.2.24841.
[6] Bravata DM, Watts SA, Keefer AL, et al. Prevalence, predictors, and treatment of impostor syndrome: a systematic review[J].J Gen Intern Med,2020,35(4):1252-1275. DOI: 10.1007/s11606-019-05364-1.
[7] Inouye K. How I tackled post-PhD impostersyndrome[EB/OL]. (2021-08-23)[2023-06-12]. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02215-0.
[8] Pederson T. A 20-year encounter with the imposter syndrome[J].Mol Biol Cell,2020,31(23):2509-2510. DOI: 10.1091/mbc.E20-06-0376.
[9] Chrousos GP, Mentis AA. Imposter syndrome threatens diversity[J].Science,2020,367(6479):749-750. DOI: 10.1126/science.aba8039.
[10] Chrousos GP, Mentis AA, Dardiotis E. Focusing on the neuro-psycho-biological and evolutionary underpinnings of the imposter syndrome[J].Front Psychol,2020,11:1553. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01553.
[11] Sullivan JB,Ryba NL. Prevalence of impostor phenomenon and assessment of well-being in pharmacy residents[J].Am J Health Syst Pharm,2020,77(9):690-696. DOI: 10.1093/ajhp/zxaa041.
[12] Kogan LR, Schoenfeld-Tacher R, Hellyer P, et al. Veterinarians and impostor syndrome: an exploratory study[J].Vet Rec,2020,187(7):271. DOI: 10.1136/vr.105914.
[13] Gottlieb M, Chung A,Battaglioli N, et al. Impostor syndrome among physicians and physicians in training: a scoping review[J].Med Educ,2020,54(2):116-124. DOI: 10.1111/medu.13956.
[14] Thomas M,Bigatti S. Perfectionism, impostor phenomenon, and mental health in medicine: a literature review[J].Int J Med Educ,2020,11:201-213. DOI: 10.5116/ijme.5f54.c8f8.
[15] Regan PA, Shumaker K, Kirby JS. Impostor syndrome in United States dermatology residents[J].J Am Acad Dermatol,2020,83(2):631-633. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaad.2019.10.018.
[16] Bhama AR, Ritz EM, Anand RJ, et al. Imposter syndrome in surgical trainees: Clance imposter phenomenon scale assessment in general surgery residents[J].J Am Coll Surg,2021,233(5):633-638. DOI: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2021.07.681.
[17] Levant B,Villwock JA, Manzardo AM. Impostorism in American medical students during early clinical training: gender differences and intercorrelating factors[J].Int J Med Educ,2020,11:90-96. DOI: 10.5116/ijme.5e99.7aa2.
[18] Brennan-Wydra E, Chung HW, Angoff N, et al. Maladaptive perfectionism, impostor phenomenon, and suicidal ideation among medical students[J].Acad Psychiatry,2021,45(6):708-715. DOI: 10.1007/s40596-021-01503-1.
[19] Khan M. Imposter syndrome-a particular problem for medical students[J].BMJ,2021,375:n3048. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.n3048.
[20] Gottlieb M. More than meets the eye: the impact of imposter syndrome on feedback receptivity[J].Med Educ,2021,55(2):144-145. DOI: 10.1111/medu.14412.
[21] Salmons P. Imposter syndrome: a degree of doubt is essential[J].BMJ,2021,374:n1706. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.n1706.
[22] Gill P. Imposter syndrome- why is it so common among nurse researchers and is it really aproblem?[J].Nurse Res,2020,28(3):30-36. DOI: 10.7748/nr.2020.e1750.
[23] Arleo EK, Wagner-Schulman M, McGinty G, et al. Tackling impostor syndrome: a multidisciplinary approach[J].Clin Imaging,2021,74:170-172. DOI: 10.1016/j.clinimag.2020.12.035.
[24] Russell R. On Overcoming imposter syndrome[J].Acad Med,2017,92(8):1070. DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000001801.
[25] Mullangi S, Jagsi R. Imposter syndrome: treat the cause, not the symptom[J].JAMA,2019,322(5):403-404. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2019.9788.
[26] Sears D,Razeghi S, Gaidos J, et al. Overcoming imposter syndrome, addressing microaggressions, and defining professional boundaries[J].Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol,2021,6(11):881-884. DOI: 10.1016/S2468-1253(21)00339-3.
[27] Sotiropoulos MG. Impostor syndrome: a calling for a career in medicaleducation?[J].Postgrad Med J,2021,97(1146):264-265. DOI: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2020-138360.
[28] Gresham-Dolby C. Imposter syndrome: an opportunity to positively influence mentees[J].Curr Pharm Teach Learn,2022,14(2):130-132. DOI: 10.1016/j.cptl.2021.11.019.
[29] Fainstad T, Mann A, Suresh K, et al. Effect of a novel online group-coaching program to reduce burnout in female resident physicians: a randomized clinical trial[J].JAMA Netw Open,2022,5(5):e2210752. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.10752.
[30] Rivera N, Feldman EA, Augustin DA, et al. Do I belong here? confronting imposter syndrome at an individual, peer, and institutional level in health professionals[J].MedEdPORTAL,2021,17:11166. DOI: 10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11166.
[31] Baumann N, Faulk C,Vanderlan J, et al. Small-group discussion sessions on imposter syndrome[J].MedEdPORTAL,2020,16:11004. DOI: 10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11004.
[32] Slade SJ. Empathyrounds: residents combating impostor syndrome[J]. J Grad Med Educ,2020,12(3):351-352. DOI:10.4300/JGME-D-19-00832.1.
