Introduction
Stress is one of the most misused words in the medical profession according to one Dr. Cecil Myer in a recent commentary in The Sun. Why? Because Psychiatrists have admitted being at pain at times to explain to lay men what stress really is all about. Any uncomfortable situation in life is labeled as stress. Some people even confuse boredom with stress and at times blame it for random illnesses and poor performance in school. Stress being a medical issue forms the basis of this research and the sample to be used for the purpose of the above research will be medical students in different institutions of learning.
Hypothesis
The question is “Are the academic related sicknesses in the medical students caused by stress that comes with the hard course that the students take or is stress caused by the hard medical course taken by the medical students? The question of whether poor academic performance among medical student’s results from stress due to the hard course they take or stress is caused by poor academic performance persists though silently among many medical researchers. In a quest to find a substantive answer to the above query we sought to conduct a research to help as conclude on this matter hypothesizing that the issue may go either way; stress causes poor academic performance among medical students or poor academic performance among medical students results into stress.
Research design
The kind of information required in the above research topic calls for a wide coverage of medical students in various institutions of learning who are our main specimens of observation are. In order to carry out the research efficiently and to ensure that the information obtained is reliable, we would have to select a number of students from every institution who are willing to disclose their side of view and their health status without interfering with their privacy. Again the research would call for the same medical students to allow us access their original and unaltered health reports.
The idea here is to compare their health status before enrolling for the medical courses with their current medical history after they enrolled and are studying the medical course. In addition the research will also establish when the stress is high, that is, when the students perform poorly or is it caused by the fact that the medical course is hard or the perception that the medical course is hard. In doing so we shall be relying on the findings of psychiatrist Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe. In their findings on the relationship between stress and performance in medical related studies, they found out that there is a strong relationship between the two. Subsequent support and validation of their findings by other psychiatrist gave way to the use of Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale as a standard measure for stress.
In our research therefore, we are to use the scale in guiding us to tell the level of medical studies that acts as a triggering tool that causes stress. In doing so a common ground has to be found as it might be hard to quantify stress. In reaching a common ground we have to admit the fact that the problems might be cyclical in that the hard medical studies followed by poor performance may trigger stress and vice versa.
Data collection
In obtaining information from the chosen respondents we have first to cultivate confidence and earn their trust. Due to a good number of constraints including time and resources we limit ourselves to a sample of 40 medical students drawn from all levels of medical studies and at different levels of medical studies.
Due to the diversity in our chosen respondents, interviews are the best way of data collection on the grounds that we hope that the respondents will be honest. Where possible close personalities acquainted to our respondents such family, friends and room mates will be contacted to verify suspect information from the respondents. This might appear rude but sticking to the basic has no harm as it adds credibility in our research.
Descriptive Statistic
Handling this kind of research is obviously to be met with some kind of resistance by the respondents in divulging information. To take care of this the respondents are first to be brainstormed about issues surrounding the relationship between medical studies and stress. Much as we may like to do so, utmost care must be observed to avoid instilling fear to the respondents to avoid pushing them in altering their would be responses.
In case of the interviewer asking questions, qualitative measure should be used in order to draw answers from the respondents. For example, a question can be framed this way, “Almost all medical students in your grade don’t get worried by stress when they perform badly in their exams, and do you get worried yourself? The answer to such questions or the framing of such questions gives the researcher the idea of the qualitative measures to use in presenting his/her findings.
Other considerations
Though our research may be small scale it has to involve some legality in that we may require parental/guidance or the institution administration consent especially in cases involving students whose health records show that they have in one way or the other suffered from stress related diseases as they form a crucial part of the study. Parents of such respondents have to be contacted before initialization of the research and necessary arrangements made plus the explanation of the whole business.
On another front, we appreciate the time and energy spent by the respondents in taking part in our research. As a show of appreciation, the respondents are to receive the final findings of the research free of charge.With such considerations put in place, then our research is ready to commence.
References
Myer, C. (2001). In The Sun, New York: New York Press, pp 34-89.
Thomas, H. (2004). What Results into Stress, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp 123-125.
Richard, R. (2003). In the causes of Stress, New York: Macmillan Publishers, pp 45-78.
Stewe, K. (2004). Relationship between stress and medical related sicknesses in medical Students, New York: McGraw Hill, pp 34-90.
Morno, J. (1997).Medical Research Designs, New York: Macmillan Publishers, pp 12-78.