The characteristics of depressive symptoms in medical students during medical education and training: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: The outbreak of coronavirus disease in Nepal led medical colleges to suspend in person teaching-learning activities and ultimately online platform was introduced to deliver the contents of medical education. The objective of this study was to describe the perception of medical students towards online teaching-learning introduced during the COVID-19 outbreak in Nepal. Methods: An online survey using a descriptive cross-sectional study design was carried out among 515 undergraduate medical students currently enrolled in medical colleges in Nepal. A semi-structured questionnaire in Google form was utilized to collect data. The link of the Google form was sent to the potential respondents through email and social media. Descriptive statistics, including frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation were used to analyze data in SPSS vs20. Ethical approval was sought from Nepal Health Research Council to conduct this study, and digital informed consent was taken from study respondents. Results: The overall score of perception of online teaching-learning was 17.61±7.19, which indicated many problems in this method of teaching-learning. The mean score of perception of online teaching-learning was found to be different across sex, location of enrolled medical colleges, having a personal electronic device, having an internet connection at residence, having separate room/space for attending online classes, and self-rated computer skills. Moreover, only 28 (5.4%) of respondents had perceived online teaching-learning as a better method of delivering content of medical curricula. Conclusions: Surveyed medical students in Nepal were found to perceive many problems in online teaching-learning. Moreover, management and faculty members need to take the necessary measures for enhancing the online teaching-learning quality.

Download Full-text

Stress and Depressive Symptoms among Undergraduate Medical Students of Different Professional Years at a Medical College in Northern India- A Cross-sectional Study

JOURNAL FOR CLINICAL AND DIAGNOSTIC RESEARCH ◽

10.7860/jcdr/2021/47799.14559 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Abhinav Pandey ◽

Achyut Kumar Pandey ◽

Pankaj Sureka ◽

Amit Singh ◽

Sanjay Gupta

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Medical Students ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Poor Quality ◽

Medical Institute ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Northern India

Introduction: Medical students are exposed to tremendous pressure, leading to stress, depression and other psychiatric disorder at increasingly higher rates. The stress and depression can affect their learning and can lead to poor quality of life. The students of different professional year may have differing reasons for being under stress and in depression. Assessing stress and depression in students of different professional years may provide better insights, and help policy makers plan appropriate interventions. Aim: To measure and compare the prevalence and severity of stress, various aspects of life affected by stress and depressive symptoms among medical students of various professional years. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from February 2018 to January 2019; on 150 undergraduate medical students (50 each from 1st, 2nd and 3rd professional year) of a medical institute in Northern part of India. Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI version 5) was used to screen for depression, Student’s Stress Dimension Questionnaire (SSDQ) was used to assess for stress prevalence and severity and to find the various aspects of life affected by stress and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) was used to measure the severity of depressive symptoms. Chi-square test and one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to make the group comparisons. Results: Overall stress and depressive symptoms were present in 66.67% and 52% of the participants, respectively. The three groups also differed significantly in the total score of SSDQ (H=13.664, p<0.05) and HAM-D (H=11.352, p<0.05) with first professional year students having higher scores than second and third professional year students. Domain wise comparison of SSDQ also showed higher prevalence and severity of impaired domains in first professional year students. Conclusion: Special care must be taken of the medical students. Interventions addressing stress and depression should be initiated from first professional year students itself.

Download Full-text

Impact of education and training on type of care provided by community-based breastfeeding counselors: a cross-sectional study

International Breastfeeding Journal ◽

10.1186/1746-4358-6-12 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 12 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Elizabeth M Sullivan ◽

Whitney E Bignell ◽

Anne Andrianos ◽

Alex K Anderson

Keyword(s):

Education And Training ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Community Based ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

And Training

Download Full-text

Addressing the Covid-19 Burden on Medical Education and Training: The Role of Telemedicine and Tele-Education During and Beyond the Pandemic

Frontiers in Public Health ◽

10.3389/fpubh.2020.589669 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Divyansh Sharma ◽

Sonu Bhaskar

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Medical Education ◽

Medical Students ◽

Well Being ◽

Education And Training ◽

Remote Education ◽

Medical Education And Training ◽

Training Delivery ◽

The Impact ◽

And Training

Medical students are the future of sustainable health systems that are severely under pressure during COVID-19. The disruption in medical education and training has adversely impacted traditional medical education and medical students and is likely to have long-term implications beyond COVID-19. In this article, we present a comprehensive analysis of the existing structural and systemic challenges applicable to medical students and teaching/training programs and the impact of COVID-19 on medical students and education. Use of technologies such as telemedicine or remote education platforms can minimize increased mental health risks to this population. An overview of challenges during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic are also discussed, and targeted recommendations to address acute and systemic issues in medical education and training are presented. During the transition from conventional in-person or classroom teaching to tele-delivery of educational programs, medical students have to navigate various social, economic and cultural factors which interfere with their personal and academic lives. This is especially relevant for those from vulnerable, underprivileged or minority backgrounds. Students from vulnerable backgrounds are influenced by environmental factors such as unemployment of themselves and family members, lack of or inequity in provision and access to educational technologies and remote delivery-platforms, and increased levels of mental health stressors due to prolonged isolation and self-quarantine measures. Technologies for remote education and training delivery as well as sustenance and increased delivery of general well-being and mental health services to medical students, especially to those at high-risk, are pivotal to our response to COVID-19 and beyond.

Download Full-text