Study On Perceived Stress Among Medical Students From A Medical College In North India

BACKGROUND: There is a growing concern about stress during undergraduate medical training. The process of getting metamorphosed into a professional doctor from a naive student is not an easy ride as the training is quite challenging and time demanding. AIM: To determine the level of stress in relation to various stressors among medical students at Career Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted in which a total of 400 undergraduate Medical students were selected as the respondents. Informed written consent was obtained from all participating students. A structured questionnaire was designed that included two categories: Demographic details and Assessment of Perceived Stress due to various stressors. RESULTS: Out of 400 students, 393 responded which amounts to a response rate of 64%. Severe and high levels of stress were noted due to fear of failure in exams (76%),inability to cope with tremendous amount of syllabus(68.8%) ,burden of studying in a private medical college(60.3%),competition for post graduate seats (58.2%),insecurity regarding professional future (55.4%), financial burden (49.9%),lack of homely environment in living hostel (49.9%) and personal physical health(44.1%) CONCLUSION: Our findings are in keeping with various other studies that highlight the need to teach the medical students different stress management techniques to improve their ability to cope with the demanding professional course.