Quality of Life and Stress Factors for Veterinary Medical Students

Abstract

Two-hundred-and-eighty-nine veterinary students from all four years of the University of Tennessee, College of Veterinary Medicine (UTCVM) were invited to complete the Derogatis Stress Profile (DSP)1 and an original Demographic Data Profile (DDP). The DSP assessed the students’ current experiences of perceived stress, and the DDP was designed to gather information about students’ academic year, their living situations, their financial situations, their interest area within the veterinary medical profession, and their current methods of coping with stress. These data were gathered as a baseline measure of veterinary medical students’ perceived level of stress and quality of life. In an earlier study, data were also collected from faculty and staff about the perceived quality of the climate and culture of the veterinary college. The results of the DSP and DDP suggest that, although veterinary students at UTCVM do not experience significant levels of stress overall, they do report higher levels of subjective stress, time pressure, and depression than the general population. The more companion animals that veterinary students cared for in their personal lives, the more likely they were to report higher levels of perceived stress. Lastly, there were significant differences between genders, with female veterinary students reporting higher levels of perceived stress than their male counterparts. The preliminary results of the climate and culture data suggest that faculty and staff of the veterinary college individually feel that they are cared for in the work environment and collectively believe that the college strives for excellence.