Dundee spots stressed students

Dundee University is trying to make students more aware of welfare issues before stress related problems arise. A study trying to ascertain the effects of including welfare with more traditional subjects such as anatomy in the medical curriculum was launched in October.

Nick Halpin, head of the university's counselling service, said that medical students were "under quite a bit of stress" and that the "evidence is that stress gets quite a lot worse" later on. He hopes that legitimising welfare issues as part of the medical curriculum will ensure that students are more aware of the importance of looking after themselves and may motivate them to promote welfare issues during their professional career. Doctors are notorious for their high rates of suicide, substance abuse, alcoholism, and divorce.

Freshers were given a "well being pack" on registration. This describes the importance of sensible drinking, eating, and exercise and emphasises the need for laughter - "a great stress reliever," according to Dr Halpin. Lectures on emotional intelligence, stress management, and other welfare issues are also being included in the course.

Questionnaires will record a range of factors, including food and water intake, mood, and use of spare time, over one week. Personality tests will also be used. The results of these will be combined to give each student a unique 23 page report. It is hoped that this will alert them to their individual strengths and weaknesses, allowing individually tailored intervention for those considered at risk.

The study will follow the year group of 160-70 throughout their five year course, although the questionnaires were piloted on second and third year students. Dundee university believes that this is the first time that students have been investigated before there is time for problems to develop. It is hoped that the study may be extended to all rather than just medical freshers.

If the study shows that addressing welfare issues as part of the standard medical course is helpful, Dr Halpin says that "it [would be] nice to think that our results could apply elsewhere."

Alex Brooks, GKT London


studentBMJ 1999;07:394-436 November ISSN 0966-6494