A Cross-sectional study Evaluating the Prevalence of Imposter Syndrome Across Different Years of Medical Education (MBBS)

Background: Imposter syndrome, also known as the imposter phenomenon or fraud syndrome, is defined by the lack of confidence in one’s skills and intellect among high-achieving individuals. Medical professionals are considered to be one of the victims of this syndrome, with limited information about the imposter syndrome and its correlation with medical education and other demographics. The study aims to assess which year of medical education has the highest prevalence of imposter syndrome. Methods: The study design was a quantitative cross-sectional and data were collected via purposive sampling. 326 participants were included from 1 ^st year to the final-year of MBBS students in the study. The Young Imposter Scale (YIS), including the eight items, was used to perform the dichotomous assessment of imposter syndrome. Statistical analysis was done through IBM SPSS Statistics 2025, and ANOVA was applied. Results: 114 out of 326 students (35.0%) answered “Yes” for five or more questions. Out of the 114, 23 belonged to the 1 ^st year, 19 from the 2 ^nd year, 27 from the 3 ^rd year, 23 from the 4 ^th year and 22 students belonged to the final year. Among the groups, third-year students had the highest mean IS presence (0.3710) followed closely by fourth-year students. Second-year students had the lowest prevalence of IS, although the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusions: Imposter Syndrome showed slightly higher prevalence in third-year students and the lowest prevalence among second-year students, suggesting an increasing self-doubt among medical students in later academic years. The findings highlight the need for particular attention to the middle stages of medical education.