Factors Associated with Stress in Medical School

ABSTRACT

Objective

This study aimed to identify stress, personality traits and social skills among students at two medical schools in Tocantins during their clerkship period.

Methodology

A sample of 50 clerkship students was given a questionnaire on biographical data and aspects of the clerkship, along with three psychological tests: Lipp’s Stress Symptoms Inventory, the Personality Factorial Battery, and the Social Skills Inventory.

Results

The population under study showed signs of stress (52%), with a predominance of psychological symptoms potentially constituting an illness, but rarely seen as such (resistance phase). Personality characteristics such as low openness to ideas, poor communication skills, high commitment, and instability were also registered. Parallel to this was our identification of a repertoire of low social skills in terms of the self-assertion skills required in the expression of positive feelings. Some students also needed expert (psychologist and psychiatrist) assistance during the course with complaints unaddressed.

Conclusion

The correlational analyses suggest that neuroticism and levels of communication and trust in others are different in people experiencing stress. This aspect, along with a difficulty in expressing positive emotions, indicates one way a predisposing factor may develop into stress among medical students. This may be added to personality traits and their associated behavior trends, during one of the tensest phases of medical school (clerkship).

Clinical Clerkship; Burnout; Personality; Personality Tests; Medical Education; Interpersonal Relations