Group counseling for medical students with drop-out experiences.

PURPOSE The purpose of this research was to describe our group counseling methods for medical students with drop-out experiences. METHODS Group counseling was offered to 11 medical students with drop-out experiences in their previous second semester. All subjects provided written informed consent before participating and completed a 2-day group counseling program using the Gestalt approach. The self-assertiveness training group counseling program consisted of 6 sessions, each of which lasted 90 minutes. Experience reports by participants after the program and data from semi-structured qualitative interviews were qualitatively analyzed. RESULTS Program participants reported that they were moderately satisfied with the program regarding its usefulness and helpfulness on self-awareness, understanding, and reminding them of attempts to change behavior. Most students showed heightened levels of sincerity perceptions and positive attitudes in every session. The results demonstrated significant changes in experience in self-esteem, self-recognition, and interpersonal relationships. CONCLUSION A group counseling program using the Gestalt approach could help medical students with drop-out experiences to adjust with 1 year their juniors, enhance their self-esteem, contribute to their psychological well-being, and prevent student re-failure through effective stress management and improved interpersonal relationships.