MENTAL HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE OF MEDICINE COURSE STUDENTS AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH CURRICULAR ASPECTS

Abstract

The high degree of mental illness that affects medical students and its association with elements of graduation are facts recognized and demonstrated in literature. This work proposes to present an overview of mental health and quality of life of students of a medical course at a public institution of higher education and discuss its relationship with curricular aspects. The data were collected through the application of the Medical Student’s Quality of Life Inventory (IQVEM) in students from the first to the penultimate year of that course. The factors that demonstrated the greatest positive impact on the student’s quality of life are the good relationship with teachers, receiving adequate supervision in practical activities and having the recognition of patients, while those with the greatest negative impact are related to time management and pedagogical aspects. Themes whose content establishes that having more free time to carry out activities such as studying, playing sports, spending time with family and friends, participating in extracurricular and cultural activities would improve the quality of life stood out with the biggest negative impact. Moreover, themes such as bad classes and lack of teacher didactic were among these of biggest negative impact. The results corroborate with other re-search, so that medical schools must emphasize teacher training and new study plans must prioritize free hours for studies and extracurricular activities. It should be noted that several of these elements were the subject of proposals for curricular changes for that course in 2019. Finally, it is expected that this study will collaborate in the processes of curricular adaptation based on the National Curriculum Guidelines for the Undergraduate Course in Medicine.