Sources and Levels of Distress among Medical Students at Two Newly Established Medical Schools in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The study sought to investigate the sources and levels of distress among medical students at two newly established medical schools in Zimbabwe. Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) Transactional Model of Stress and Coping was used to guide the study. The study employed a pragmatic research philosophy, a mixed methods approach, and a concurrent parallel design. A sample of 123 medical students drawn from two newly established medical schools in Zimbabwe was used for the study. The participants’ ages ranged from 18- 47 years. The study used structured questionnaires and face-to-face interviews to collect data. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected separately, analysed independently, and merged at the interpretation stage. Numerical codes were used for the quantitative data. The quantitative data were entered into the SPSS version 28 and analysed using regression analysis. The computed quantitative data showed significant relationships between sources of distress and medical students’ distress. The qualitative data were analysed thematically. Qualitative data were reported under the following themes; academic workload and distress, medical students personal experiences and distress, exposure to death and dying and distress, finance and distress, and the strategies used by medical students to cope with distress. The study concluded that medical students suffer from distress emanating from academic workload, exposure to dying patients, personal life events and lack of finance. The study recommended a higher institution's mental health policy to specifically look at mental health issues at institutions of higher learning. The study further recommended the mandatory establishment of psychology clinics at all universities to respond to mental health issues affecting students at institutions of higher learning. Medical students proposed a distress management and coping model for use during medical training.