Stress Level Assessment of Medical School Program and correlations between Learning Styles and Teaching Methodologies

Abstract

Stress is a psychological change that is becoming ever more frequent among medical school students than that of the general population, and these stress levels may affect academic performance. When the individual learning style does not fit into the method used by the student's university, the clash may become another stress factor. We evaluated preferred learning styles (Honey-Alonso Learning Styles Questionnaire) and stress levels (Lipp Inventory of Stress Symptoms for Adults) among medical students from two universities in the state of São Paulo that apply different teaching methods. The results showed that and the majority of the students were found to exhibit the reflexive learning style at both schools (60.4% at UNOESTE and 32.7% in FACERES) and high stress levels overall among the students (68.2% at UNOESTE and 74.0% at FACERES) in the resistance phase (81%), and there was a predominance of psychological symptoms of stress over physical symptoms at both universities (75.86% of students at UNOESTE and 86.48% at FACERES). Female students were found to exhibit higher stress levels than their male counterparts (72% and 55%, respectively). However, we didn´t find any statistical association between stress level and learning style. This is the first study to compare stress levels, learning styles, and teaching methodologies at two different medical schools.

Students' self-perception about their Quality of Life is overestimated: is this the base of their mental troubles?

“…Various studies have also reported differences in stress levels between genders with a greater prevalence of stress among women in a previous study by our team and in studies by other researchers (Botelho et al, 2017;Tempski et al, 2012).…”

Burnout among medical students during the first years of undergraduate school: Prevalence and associated factors

“…The active methodology of teaching can cause anxiety in students [ 10 ]. It is known that students who enter medical schools whose teaching methodologies differ from those experienced in elementary education have a great chance of developing stress and anxiety compared with students who enter schools with conventional teaching methods [ 11 ]. However, when comparing two Brazilian medical schools with different teaching methodologies, Botelho et al [ 11 ] perceived that stress levels were high in both schools, with prevalence rates above 65%.…”

“…It is known that students who enter medical schools whose teaching methodologies differ from those experienced in elementary education have a great chance of developing stress and anxiety compared with students who enter schools with conventional teaching methods [ 11 ]. However, when comparing two Brazilian medical schools with different teaching methodologies, Botelho et al [ 11 ] perceived that stress levels were high in both schools, with prevalence rates above 65%. With the evolution of the active course, better adaptation and understanding of the teaching method were observed, leveraged by the factors of proximity with the facilitator professor, the use of real clinical cases, study in small groups, and the help of a tutor in the organization and orientation of the learning, but without any perception of improvement of the symptoms of burnout [ 10 ].…”

Effectiveness of universal programmes for the prevention of suicidal ideation, behaviour and mental ill health in medical students: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Frequent examinations,11 lengthy academic curricula,12 tiered, rather than pass/fail grading systems,13 a mismatch between preferred teaching and learning styles14 and lack of preparation for career transitions, in particular between preclinical and clinical training15 have all been associated with poorer mental health outcomes in medical students. The structure of medical school curricula therefore offers a significant opportunity for intervention 16…”