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Introduction Mental health problems of adolescents are among the prevailing problems of public health. While studying for their future medical profession, the students of medicine have to exchange emotions with the patients intensively, and the empathic relationship itself bears a risk of eventual "emotional depletion", which leads to "professional lack of emotions". The study was aimed at presenting burnout syndrome as a challenge for mental health of medical students, its importance for the future professional engagement of doctors and the possibilities of its prevention. Methods The authors of this paper review and analyze data and conclusions of previous national and international studies from this field and suggest possibilities of overcoming the condition of burnout. Results The frequency of burnout syndrome, which is the synonym for the above mentioned condition of emotional exhaustion, is twice as high in medical professionals, particularly young ones, as in other professions on average. Burnout syndrome is nowadays regarded as a psychological distress experienced during the educational process and it has been observed in as many as 50% of medical students. The most significant factors independently associated with student burnout are: personality traits, stressful personal life events and learning and training conditions at their faculties. Conclusions It is of utmost importance to understand the causes and consequences of psychological distress in students, and the faculties should not only identify these problems, but also endeavor to promote health by developing strategies for improving personal well-being, which are important for future doctors to achieve professional success and develop resistance to stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]