The wounded healers: A qualitative study of stress in medical students

Aim: to explore the reasons of stress in medical freshman,exploring the factors which act as stressors at entry in medical education. methodology: aqualitative study was conducted at lahore medical and dental college,lahore,pakistan. data was collected through two focus group discussions conducted with 20 first year medical students,who volunteered to be part of the study. a guide was used to assess the perceptions of participants regarding stress in their educational setting and coping strategies used by them. the interviews were transcribed verbatim and interpretative approach was used for thematic analysis of data. data coding was done manually and scrutinized by all researchers to maximize reliability. validity of the data was assured by sharing the interview transcripts with the participants. results: three main themes emerged from the focus group discussions,namely,academic burden,non-academic pressures and coping with stress. large content of first year syllabus,greater emphasis on attendance and passing tests and time management issues were mentioned by study participants as overwhelming stressors. other sources of stress included pressures from parents to achieve academic excellence,tensions about future,loss of confidence,mood changes and bullying by peers and teachers. most participants tried to cope by disengagement,self-distraction and substance use. conclusion: freshman experiencemany academic,personal and inter-personal stressors in medical education which cause strain on their physical,psychological and social well-being. however,students are not prepared to cope with stress in a positive way.