Journal of Research in Medical Education & Ethics

The medical and dental studies are believed to be demanding and stressful.

The objectives of this study were to compare stressors between medical and dental students and to find out the relationship among entrance examination marks, cognitive function and stressors during their first year of studies.

The marks obtained by the medical (n=91) and dental (n=33) students (aged 18–28 years) in their common entrance examination, primarily in physics, chemistry and biology, were documented. Their stressors were assessed by using Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ) along with additional modified structured questionnaire. The cognitive function assessment (CFA) score was assessed by the standardised questionnaire constituting 40 marks. The medical and dental students were compared based on their entrance examination marks, the CFA score and the MSSQ using independent sample t-test. Pearson's correlation was done among the three groups of variables.

Stressors and degree of stress between medical and dental students were similar. Both the groups of students perceived moderate-to-high degree of stress related to academics (45.55 vs. 41.17%) and inter-and intrapersonal conflict (50 vs. 50%), while the other stressors were of mild-to-moderate level. In addition, the CFA score was negatively correlated (r= -0.2, P=0.046) with teaching and learning-related stressor. The CFA score was found to behigher in medical than in dental students (24 ± 6.1 vs. 21 ± 5.7; P= 0.007), possibly linked to better performance by the medical students in their entrance examination (142.71±26.69 vs. 123.76±24.74; P=0.001) compared with that of the dental students.

The medical students are high achievers in the entrance examination than the dental students. However, their academic-related, inter- and intrapersonal-related stressors were of moderate-to-high degree. The teaching and learning-related stress is directly linked to cognitive function: less stress in students with high cognitive function in them.