Psychological well-being in medical undergraduates in a rural medical college in South India

BACKGROUND: Medical colleges strive to create a learning environment best suitable for undergraduate medical education. In this process, measures taken can affect and influence the medical undergraduate psychological well-being. The demands of medical education lead to a psychological distress far beyond that experienced by the students of other specialties. AIMS: The aim of this study is to study the levels of psychological well-being in medical under graduates. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using a cross-sectional design, 402 medical students were surveyed using the Ryffs’s Psychological Well-being Scale. RESULTS: Low psychological well-being is evident in most of the medical undergraduates with the presence of stressors playing a significant role on psychological well-being with academic stress taking a major role. CONCLUSION: As depicted from the current study, academic stress plays a role in low psychological well-being of medical students.