Predictors of stress in doctor of pharmacy students: Results from a nationwide survey

A Comparative Analysis of Perceptions of Pharmacy Students’ Stress and Stressors across Two Multicampus Universities

“…4 Stress research affirms there is strong evidence indicating that higher levels of student stress impact academic performance negatively. 6 Votta and Benau's nationwide study of student members of the American Pharmacists Association found lower grade point averages (GPAs) were significantly associated with higher stress levels as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale. 6 LeBlanc's literature review proffered the theory that there is a strong link between stress and memory.…”

“…6 Votta and Benau's nationwide study of student members of the American Pharmacists Association found lower grade point averages (GPAs) were significantly associated with higher stress levels as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale. 6 LeBlanc's literature review proffered the theory that there is a strong link between stress and memory. 7 According to the review, because memory is the ability to store, retain, and retrieve information, it is critical for students in health professions, and others who are in medical professions training, to avoid situations that impair memory.…”

“…4 Student stress levels are also related to health-related quality of life and academic performance. [4][5][6] Gupchup et al's study, in which a self-administered questionnaire was completed by 166 pharmacy students enrolled in the first three years of a pharmacy program, found a significant negative correlation between student-life stress and the mental component of the health-related quality of life measure. 5 Because of the perceived heavy workloads, students tend to focus on short-term rather than long-term learning, resulting in a state of panic, anxiety, and the inability to recall information during test/examinations.…”

“…2 Several studies assess sources of stress and stressors of pharmacy and other health professional students. [3][4][5][6] Beck et al compared common sources of stress and stressors in two nursing student programs, to those of pharmacy, nursing, medicine and, social work students. 3 Five hundred fifty-two students in the second, third, or fourth year of their respective programs were given a written questionnaire that inquired about sources of stress using the Beck-Srivastava Stress Inventory, which asks students to describe stressful events related to the student role which occurred over the last month.…”

Sources of stress for pharmacy students in a nationwide sample

“…[13][14][15] Similar to other programs, stress in the pharmacy student population corresponds to a host of negative personal (eg lower quality of life, more health problems), academic (eg lower grades), and professional outcomes (eg career dissatisfaction). 1, [14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Emerging evidence suggests that pharmacy students experience more psychological distress than other students of healthcare professions. 6,8,21 However, there is a relative dearth of studies concerning the perceived stress, stressors, and coping strategies of pharmacy students.…”