Measuring Stress in Hostelites and Day Scholars

The Constitution of the World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Medical education is perceived as being stressful as it is characterised by many psychological changes in students. Medical students often experience different stresses which may affect their emotional, psychosocial and as well as physical health. A study of stress score was carried out on 50 dental students, who were divided into two groups; day scholars (25) and hostelites (25). From this baseline study we come to a conclusion that timely counselling and preventive mental health services integrated with other creative and extracurricular activities should be considered even in day scholars.