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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Huai Seng Loh, Dr Ma Brenda Pancho
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Introduction:Mental health issues among medical students are common due to the predisposition and situations. This is compounded by the fact that their ages between 18-24 years are particularly at risk of developing anxiety, depression and other psychiatric comorbidities.Objective:Our study aimed to explore the most common types of mental health issues encountered by the students at Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (NUMED), which is a branch campus of the UK Newcastle medical school in Malaysia.Methods:This is a retrospective cross sectional study conducted between July 2015 and August 2016 among all medical students at NUMED. All students referred for mental health issues had proper consultation sessions carried out by our independently appointed panel of family physicians and psychiatrists.Results:There were 52 out of 509 medical students (10.2%) referred to the student support services for various mental health related problems. Anxiety topped the list of the mental health issues (n=37, 71.2%), followed by depressive disorder (n=20, 38.5%) and others such as adjustment, sleep and eating disorders (n=10, 19.2%). Of the 20 depressive students, half of them had suicidal risks. Majority of the referrals were from Stage 2 (21.2%) and Stage 3 (53.8%), with a steep reduction of cases referred in their final two years of medical studies. Findings serve as a reminder to all medical educationists to be more vigilant in identifying mental health issues among medical students, especially the early clinical years. Prompt referral, appropriate interventions and adequate support for these students are crucial in preventing the worsening of their mental health conditions.
Author(s): Loh HS, Pancho B
Publication type: Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)
Publication status: Published
Conference Name: 22nd WONCA Europe Conference
Year of Conference: 2017
Online publication date: 28/06/2017
Acceptance date: 10/03/2017
