Stress levels in junior and senior medical students at king abdul-aziz university

Abstract

Introduction/aim: The medical field is a highly competitive field and those involved in it are prone to become under stress. This study aims to assess the difference in stress levels experienced by junior students (2nd year) and senior students (6th year) in King Abdul-Aziz University. Methodology: Cross sectional study involving 160 senior students and 122 junior students, the perceived stress scale was distributed to the students. Results: The mean age of our sample of 21.63 years old with a standard 2.47 years, the majority of the samples were B students. Female students constituted 58.2% of the sample. When reviewing the stress score of our sample the mean score was 20.79 with a standard deviation of 5.71. A majority of the sample had a high stress level (56%). Discussion: The results showed that majority of the medical students had high levels of stress; demographic variety didnt influence the stress levels significantly. This is due to the fact that the medical field is a high demanding field and that stress is unfortunately inevitable.Conclusion/ recommendation: Further studies are needed to assess the factors contributing to stress and techniques to adjust to the high demands of the medical field.