ABSTRACT
The curricular time restraints and the inappropriateness of 'preaching' to adult learners can be a barrier to implementing explicit health promotion programmes for students. Factors predisposing students to depression include ethnicity, study demands, being female and performance anxiety. Students may have little idea about the potentially high risks for morbidity and premature mortality associated with the medical profession and being a medical student. The level of personal application is the choice of individual students, although experiential learning is the most effective way to achieve deep learning, integration, empathy and personal benefit. The Monash University Health Enhancement Program (HEP), having been a significant part of core curriculum since 2002, is the first integrated program of its type in medical education. The strength of the HEP lies in the fact that it is delivered to all students and that it is integrated with subjects that are seen as core curriculum, such as the biomedical and behavioural sciences as well as clinical practice.
