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CC BY 4.0 · Avicenna J Med 2023; 13(02): 077-081
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1768683
Original Article

Medical Students' Syndrome among Medical Students in the University of Sharjah, UAE

Saud Hilmi Abdullah
1   College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
,
Ahmed Ehab Ahmed
1   College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
,
Homam Galal Eldin Algebail
1   College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
,
Ahmed Fatooh
1   College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
,
Laila Nour Aldeen Ismail
1   College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
,
Nada Khaled Radwan
1   College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
,
Nour Bade Sakan
1   College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
,
Hiba Jawdat Barqawi
2   Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
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Abstract

Background Medical students' syndrome (MSS) is a set of psychosomatic symptoms that affect students due to their medical background knowledge.

Objectives This study aims to measure the prevalence and assess the knowledge about MSS among medical students at the University of Sharjah. It also aims to compare the attributed characteristics of MSS between different years of study.

Methods A self-administered 24-item questionnaire was distributed to 503 students enrolled in the College of Medicine at University of Sharjah using nonprobability convenience sampling during June 2021. A total of 472 responses were completed and analyzed using descriptive studies and chi-squared test.

Results The prevalence of MSS in this study was found to be 70.8% (n = 334). Clinical year students were 1.75 times more likely to have felt they had a disease they studied about (95% confidence interval: 1.05–2.90, p = 0.03).

Conclusion Medical students are more likely to experience MSS as their education progresses.

Keywords

health anxiety - knowledge - medical students' syndrome


Publication History

Article published online:
07 June 2023

© 2023. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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