Stress in Medical Students

Abstract

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Background and purpose:  Methods:  Results:  Conclusion:  Key words:  Journal of Medical Education Winter and Spring 2007; 11 (1,2): 41-44STRESS FACTORS, MEDICAL STUDENTSOur findings suggests that many stressors are present in the path to become a doctor. Amore detailed investigation of these factor throughout universities of medicine and based on thatintroducing procedures centrally and university-based will undoubtedly help tackle many of theseproblems.Of the 200 students who received questionnaires 155 completed and returned them ( responserate = 77.7%). Of all respondent , 123 (79.4%) were female, 140 (90.3%) were unmarried. Nearlyhalf the students (45%) experienced intermediate or higher levels of stress. More frequently expressedfactors leading to stress were “ initial adaptation to the program” (84.5%) ,apprehension of exam(41.3%) and economic issues(32.4%).A survey of randomly selected medical students of all years in Quazvin medical universitywere conducted based on a questionnaire including demographic data and items examining possiblesources of anxiety based on our experience with medical students and a scale to measure the anxietyexperienced by the students as well as an item asking students how satisfied they are with studyingmedicine were given to all subjects. On the questionnaire space were provided for respondent toexpress their comments on each factor they identify as source of stress. To measure the anxiety thestudents were asked to mark the level of anxiety they experienced on a six point scale. Analyses ofdata was conducted with SPSS version 12. Relation between variables was assessed with chi-squaretest with a significance level of <0.05.Beginning medicine for the first time as a academic program is a very

stressful for medical students. This study is an attempt to determine stress in medical students of

Qazvin University of Medical Sciences and Health Services.