A Preliminary Study of Stress Levels Among First Year Medical Students at the University of Zimbabwe

A cross sectional study using two questionnaires was done to assess stress levels among first year medical students at the University of Zimbabwe. A total of 109 out of 123 first year medical students were used in the study. About 35.5% were normal & and 64.5% of students were at various levels of stress and/or depression. About 11% reported very high levels of stress while the majority of the stressed students fell within the middle bracket. Estimation of suicide tendencies showed that about 12% were at serious risk & 20% at lesser risk of psychological & emotional depression. (27 refs.)