A Florida State University College of Medicine faculty member, two third-year medical students and a medical school librarian recently published an article in Sleep Health: Journal of the National Sleep Foundation.

Shermeeka Hogans-Mathews, M.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health, medical school librarian Roxann Mouratidis and students DanTasia Welch and A. Lisa Kurian (both M.D. 2025) built upon a previously published article that discussed the correlations between poor sleep and the two-dimensional perfectionism model of perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns.

“Perfectionism has been shown to manifest in medical students and medical educators, as the medical field recruits and rewards high achievers,” they wrote. “Maladaptive perfectionism cultivates a cycle of dysfunctional thoughts, negative feelings, and emotional distress.”

Their cross-sectional study of first- and second-year medical students showed elevated levels of stress were associated significantly with poor sleep quality. Further, a cross-sectional study of practicing physicians showed two types of burnout were predicted by high levels of self-perfectionism.

For more on their findings, their conclusions and recommendations, read their article at Elsevier’s ClinicalKey.