Reducing stress among medical students: A qualitative study of students' perspectives

Background: Qualitative studies on students' perspectives about stress in medical education are sparse but nonetheless potentially relevant. Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the proportion of students who considered medical education to be excessively stressful and to elicit students' perspectives about ways to reduce stress in medical education. Materials and Methods: All medical undergraduate students of the college were asked about various aspects of stress in medical training using a self-rated questionnaire. Qualitative answers about the ways of reducing stress were also obtained using the questionnaire. Results: Medical education was considered to be excessively stressful by 265 (55.1%) students. The most common themes expressed for reducing the stress of medical education included those of "less frequent exams," "more spare time," and "slowing the pace of study or reducing syllabuses." Conclusion: Majority of students considered medical training to be stressful and curricular overload is an important reason for the same.