This article aimed to review scientific publications concerning the quality of life of medical students. The bibliography was compiled by searching for keywords "quality of life" and "medical students" in the Brazilian Virtual Health Library on the databases Medline, Lilacs, SciELO and PubMed, and also the Mendeley platform. Two kinds of publication could be clearly identified: those with a quantitative focus on measuring the quality of life of different groups of students; and those of a qualitative profile, with the objective of evaluating not only how students perceive their quality of life, but also understanding the reasons why medical school can become a stressor for the individual. The predominance of quantitative articles and lack of qualitative publications, as well as sparse conclusions that could lead to practical interventions indicate that this subject requires further study and debate.
Quality of Life; Medical Students; Medical Education
