Digital Medical Requests Common Among Students and Physicians, Survey Finds

Researchers surveyed 191 medical students and physicians about informal medical consultation requests received during the previous week, their response behaviors and perceived effects on stress, work-life balance and professional boundaries. Occupational well-being was assessed using a modified Mini-Z 2.0 instrument and a study-specific composite score.

Twenty-nine participants (15.2%) reported no requests, 140 (73.3%) reported one to five, and 22 (11.5%) reported six or more. WhatsApp or similar applications were the most common channel (60.7%); family members or relatives initiated most requests (70.7%). Requests were usually outside the recipient’s specialty (80.1%) and non-urgent (98.4%). Stress or anxiety and perceived boundary violations increased with request frequency (p=0.027 and p=0.021, respectively), while modified Mini-Z total scores did not differ significantly by frequency (p=0.528).

In adjusted analysis, responding “depending on the situation” or not responding was associated with lower Mini-Z scores (B=−2.55; 95% CI −4.72 to −0.38). The cross-sectional, questionnaire-based findings show associations, not causation, and do not establish which response strategies improve well-being. The authors suggest that the impact may depend on how requests are experienced and managed.