Stressor Among Medical Students

Stressor among medical students can be grouped into 6 groups. The 6 groups are:

1) Academic related stressor

e.g. too many subject to be studied, not enough time to do revision, examinations and tests are too frequent, difficulty in understanding content of subject, and heavy workload.

2) Interpersonal and Intrapersonal related stressor

e.g. conflict with friends, teachers, and personnel, physical and verbal abuse from friends, teachers and personnel.

3) Teaching and Learning related stressor

e.g. teachers lack of teaching skills, educational environment was not condusive, and competitive learning environment.

4) Social related stressor

e.g. not enough time with family anf friends, frequent interuptions of work by friends, and long duration on working with computer.

5) Drive and Desire related stressor

e.g. unwilling to study medicine and family force to learn medicine.

6) Group Activity related stressor

e.g. participating in group discussion and presentation.

Those are the stressors perceived by medical students. Hopefully it makes us realise what are our stressor. By knowing our stressors, we can plan strategies and approaches to manage it effectively.

reference:

1. Muhamad SBY et al., (in press). The Development & Validity of Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ), ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry.

What are the things medical students need?

One question came into my mind, "What are the things medical students need?" in order for them to go through medical training smoothly and successful as well as they are happy and satisfied with what they did during their training. Do they need extra time? do they need extra attention? do they need extra holiday? do they need extra programme? do they need extra motivation? do they need extra money? do they need extra class? do they need a class which teach them how to take care of their wellbeing? do they need seminar on stress-mangament? do they need mentor-mantee system? do they need special counselor to counsel them? do they need personal supervisor for extra support? do they need more patient? do they need extra authority that enable them to do extra procedures? do they need special hostel? and there are many more questions that came to my mind when i think about what medical students need in order for them to get through smoothly.

That were some questions in my mind which i myself not really sure what are the answers. I hope to get some response from medical students if there is any medical student read this article regardless of where they came from.

That's all for now, may be if i got free time and answers for those questions i will discuss more on this topic.

Can We Control What Goes In?

We are what we are because of what goes into our minds and hearts. (Zig Ziglar)

One of the reasons I displayed it prominently (above statement) is that it's the best statement I ever found about the significance of an education. We are not talking about just formal education, but all education. We truly are what we are because of what goes into our minds and hearts. Almost everyday we were being deluged from all sides with a torrent of words. The pictures those words represent get into our heads and have a strong effect on the way we think and the way we talk. Obviously, we can't control all the messages we are blitzed with, but we have more control than we think. We can do two things to make sure our hearts and minds full of good words:

1. Screen out the thrash: Would we let someone come into our home and dump a big bag of thrash all over our living room? If we wouldn't let someone dump thrash in our living room, they why do we let them dump thrash into our minds and hearts? Simply paying more attention to our input (what comes and goes in), we can easily screen out much of the negative. For example, we can change TV channels and radio stations, we can close offensive reading materials, and we can avoid, at least to some extent, being around people who drag us down with their glum conversation. In other words, we can eliminate a lot of negative input.

2. Start the day with positive input: Words always reveal what is going on inside our minds and hearts. Start our day by putting something good into our minds and hearts e.g. we get up ealier than we needed to, before doing anything, we sit down in the quiet of the morning with a cup of hot coffee and something uplifting to read. It has a positive effect on us for the remainder of the day. It affects not only our thinking but also our talking for the rest of the day. It's one of the best habit we can have, if we want to. We must remember that a man's words will always express what has been stored in his heart.

I believe that if we are practising such habit then we will improve our well being, thus will improve our resiliency. Healthy medical students will produce healthy future medical doctors. Healthy medical doctors will result in better treatment for patients, and eventually it will make healthier society. Think, think and think!

reference

1. Hal Urban (2004). Positive Words, Powerful Results. Fireside Book, Simon & Schuster; New York.

The Power of Words

A careless word may kindle strife.

A cruel word may wreck a life.

A bitter word may hate instill.

A brutal word may smite and kill.

A gracious word may smooth the way.

A joyous word may light the day.

A timely word may lessen stress.

A loving word may heal and bless.

As medical personals we must remember, words that come out from our mouth have the power to destroy or heal. When words are both true and kind, they can positively influence our care and treatment on our patients. Thus, we have to use positive words when communicating with our patients. The question is when we have to learn it? the answer is we have to learn this important skills during our undergraduate medical training. Hopefully it will help us to maintain our level of professionalism and well being. Positive words may lessen stress, enhance our well being, and may improve patient care. Every word that we speak is a chance to change what is bad into something good.

"WORDS MAKE US HUMAN"

reference

1. Hal Urban (2004). Positive Words, Powerful Results. Fireside Book, Simon & Schuster; New York.

What Determines Focus & Assertiveness?

Every behavior has a purpose, or an intent, that the behavior is trying to fulfill. People engage in behaviors based on their intent, and do what they do based on what seems to be most important in any given moment. Four general intents have been identified that determine how we will behave in any given situation or circumstance, these four intents are:

1. Get the task done

2. Get the task right

3. Get along with people

4. Get appreciation from peole

Just as we choose what to wear from a variety of clothing styles, so we choose from a variety of behaviors that are situationally dependent. We may have a favourite shirt or pair of pants, an we may also have a behavioral style that we prefer. But rather than having one behavioral style all the time, our behavior changes as our priorities change. We may find it helpful to identify these four intents in ourselves, and recognize their connection to our own behavior in various types of situations. This will make us easier to observe and understand in others.

"AS OUR INTENT CHANGES, SO DOES OUR BEHAVIOR"

reference:

1. Dr Rick Brinkman & Dr Rick Kirschner (1994). Dealing With People You Cant Stand. McGraw-Hill.