The level of stress and coping behaviour techniques of undergraduate medical student in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh, India

Objective: To investigate and compare the perceived stress level and coping strategies of the undergraduate medical student studying in the first year and second year MBBS. Method: The sample was selected from 100 undergraduate medical students, 50 were in the first year, and 50 were in the second year, at Late Shree Lakhiram Agrawal Memorial Govt. Medical College, Raigarh Chhattisgarh, India. Stress Assessment Scale Indian adaptation and Stress Coping Behaviour Scale was used for assessment. Result: The age of first-year participants was between 18 to 19 years while the second year participants aged between 20 to 21 years, first-year students were showing a higher level of stress (mean: 830.40, sd- 108.75) than the second-year student (mean: 517.80, SD – 78.07, t – value 16.51, significance P >0.001*). Conclusion: Medical students perceived high levels of stress and emotional distress. First-year students of more likely to suffer from stress and uses poor coping strategies than the second-year student. Review of academics, better interaction with the faculty, intervention programs, and counselling sessions can help a lot to reduce stress in medical students.