Background: Burnout and engagement are seen as opposite ends of a continuum. In medical education, engagement reflects motivation and social belonging, while burnout signifies a lack of interest in learning and social detachment. This study aimed to investigate the influence of lifelong learning and loneliness on these dynamics.

Methods: A cross-sectional study involving a culture back-translation procedure was performed. Participants were medical students enrolled in a Croatian medical school. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-GS), Jefferson Scale of Physician lifelong learning (JeffSPLL-MS), and the Scale of Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA-S), were used as main measures. Sex, age, grade point average, and year of study, were collected in a complementary form. Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFAs), followed by correlation, comparative and multiple linear regression analyses were performed to assess the above-mentioned variables.

Results: The sample consisted of 1,371 medical students (872 women), all native Croatian speakers. A model including lifelong learning, loneliness and sex variables accounted for 17% of the variance in the global MBI-GS score. This model showed a medium-to-large effect size and fulfilled conditions required for statistical inference. Additionally, differences by sex appeared in loneliness (p < 0.001), but not in lifelong learning abilities. Furthermore, the Croatian versions of the JeffSPLL-MS and the SELSA-S exhibited good psychometric properties, as confirmed by CFAs.

Conclusions: These findings highlight the influence of lifelong learning abilities and loneliness on the burnout-engagement continuum. Additionally, findings indicate that female medical students are at heightened risk of experiencing burnout.