Stress assessment in students of medicine

The main objective of this investigation has been the study of the sources of stress in students of medicine of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Alicante. In order to cover this objective we invited all the students registered in medicine during an academic course to fill in a questionnaire with 66 items, which collects a variety of situations that could produce stress during the studies. A total of 389 students have participated, 40.9% men and 58.1% women. With the initial questionnaire developed in order to measure the stress in the studies and specific stressors, five main areas of stress in students of medicine have been defined: 1) Academic overload (exams); 2) Relationships and conflicts; 3) Personal problems; 4) Contact with death and suffering and 5) Other problems related to the studies. The main stressors for the students that have participated in the study are the exams. A more reduced and accurate version of the questionnaire has been obtained from this research: the Inventory of Stress Situations for Students of Medicine, which would be helpful for future research.