Viewpoint of Medical Students from a Public University on Health and Quality of Life

ABSTRACT Introduction From premed to graduating from medical school, more than just the academic content is required from students, and emotional preparation is necessary. Faced with a full-time course that demands intense dedication to achieve good theoretical-practical background and contemplate the curricular requirements and, being often far away from one’s family, there is a diminished perception of quality of life in this group. This adaptation to physiological and emotional changes is capable of interfering with the disease process in this group of individuals, affecting their professional performance and the community where they will work at. Objective To know the life habits and disease processes of medical students of the Federal University of Alagoas throughout the medical course. In addition to seeking to understand the possible association between these factors and the high incidence of gastric complaints in this group. Methodology This is a descriptive and cross-sectional study, comprising medical students from the 1 st to 8 th periods of the Federal University of Alagoas, separated by gender and course cycle. The Bardin method was used for the qualitative analysis of the content generated during the discussions with the groups. Results Through Bardin analysis , the final category of quality of life was reached in the female and male groups, both in the basic cycle and in the clinical cycle. This category derives from intermediate categories: access to a healthy diet, life habits and overall symptoms. An excessive workload was the groups’ main complaint. The frequency of gastrointestinal complaints and those related to being away from the family is noteworthy. It is worth noting the peculiarities of each group in the initial categories, the competitiveness among female students from the 5 th to the 8 th periods and alcohol consumption among male students in the 5 th and 8 th periods. Discussion The decrease in the quality of life is a result of the curricular matrix with more than 8,000 hours. The consequences of this excessive workload is the stress that works as a trigger for poor sleep quality and lack of time to sleep; unhealthy eating habits; alcohol consumption; nervousness, anxiety, competitiveness; symptoms such as headaches, back pain and digestive symptoms and pathologies. With the Unified Selection System, being away from the family nucleus has transformed the profile and needs of this group, reflecting the financial conditions and additional responsibilities they need to assume. Final Considerations The results of this research about the main factors that lead to a decrease in the quality of life and the consequences of this process for the health of both male and female students during the different periods of medical school are in agreement with the national and international literature. There is a worldwide tendency that contemplates including self-care in the medical school curriculum, aiming to train more qualified professionals; hence, this article can make the university institutions aware of the need to intervene in the medical course.