Stress and Coping Strategies Among Postgraduate Medical Students in Lahore

Background: It can be very stressful for students to be under constant pressure to succeed in becoming highly qualified healthcare professionals. Postgraduate and professional students were found to experience higher levels of stress than usual when age and gender were compared with populations of the same type. Negative effects of stress include poor academic performance, diminished reasoning ability, decreased coping and difficulty following graduate courses.  Objective: To learn about coping mechanisms and stress among postgraduate medical students in Lahore. Methods: This study included 101 postgraduate medical students from the campuses of private universities in Lahore and Islamabad. Informed consent forms were used to include participants. Google forms were used to create an online survey, which was then shared on Instagram and WhatsApp. A perceived stress scale was used to access the various stressors and the brief COPE inventory was used to look at the students' efficient coping mechanisms. An analysis of postgraduate students' coping mechanisms and the relationship between stress and gender was done. The data from Google forms were processed, placed into Microsoft Excel and analyzed with SPSS version 25. The findings were presented in the form of tables and graphs. Results: Among postgraduate medical students or nearly one-fourth (21.8%) of participants reported high stress, while 72.3% reported moderate stress, with men reporting higher levels of stress than women. The most common coping strategies were active coping, acceptance, planning and religion. Conclusion: It seems that graduated students are under more stress and positive psychological approaches should be made available by university administration and professors to help students deal with the demands of pursuing a degree in the medical field. Ignoring these elements would not give students the best chances for learning and employment.