The Rate of Stress in Medical Specialists and Residents of Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences

Since medical practice is one of the stressful occupations as a result of high work-load, sleepless conditions and hyposomnia, management of severely ill patients and occasionally death of them, this study was performed to determine the rate of stress in a group of specialists and residents of different fields in Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. The descriptive and cross-sectional strategy of this study was performed on 202 of specialists and residents using a self-assessment stress questionnaire standardized for our country. For selection of cases, an easy sampling method and access to them in the studied hospitals. The results showed that level of stress in physicians is high and 73.4% of them tolerate stresses from mild to severe degrees. This level was 75.5% in residents and 65% in specialists. In this regard, there was no significant difference for the different fields or between the specialists and residents. Meanwhile, level of stress (from mild to severe) in residents of surgery and anesthesia tend to become significant (P=0.059) compared to other fields. In a similar way, the level of stress in female physicians tends to become significant (P=0.057) compared to male ones. There was no significant relationship for stress, age, working hours, and the marital status. It is concluded that the sources of stress differ between the specialists and residents, that is, traffic and occupational stress is the top stressors for specialists and for residents, the expected exams, passing the courses, and economical issues are more important.