The following study aims to determine whether the Medical Student Well-Being Index (MSWBI) can serve as a brief assessment tool to identify medical students in severe psychological distress. 2,248 medical students at 7 US medical schools were surveyed. Students with low mental quality of life, suicidal ideation, or serious thoughts of dropping out were more likely to endorse each individual MSWBI item and a greater number of total items than were students without such distress. The study concludes that the MSWBI is a useful brief screening tool to help identify students with severe distress.