The Psychological Distress Suffered by Medical Students at a Brazilian Public university from the Viewpoint of their Teachers

ABSTRACT The psychological distress suffered by medical students is well-known. The role of the teaching staff in detecting difficulties causing students psychological distress and their knowledge of how to handle them is fundamental for preventing such problems. However, medical teachers are not always prepared to deal with these challenges. Objective: To study the perception of the teaching staff of the medical school at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (FMUFMG) concerning the psychological distress of the students. Method: A cross-sectional quantitative study carried out with the faculty of the UFMG medical school. The sample of 102 teachers was obtained by random draw and divided into four groups: males with up to ten (10) years of teaching, males with more than ten (10) years, females with up to ten (10) years of teaching, and females with more than ten (10)years. A self-applied 28-item questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree was prepared. For the data analysis four indicators were elaborated: psychological distress perception indicator (IPSP), commitment of the teacher to the student emotional difficulties indicator (ICDE), performance in the face of psychological distress indicator (IAPS) and a general indicator (IG). Quartile analysis was carried out and the difference among the groups was calculated using nonparametric tests. Five questions that were not included in the indicators were independently analyzed. Results: Seven teachers refused to participate and 79 answers were collected.The results showed varying degrees of concern among the groups in relation to the psychological distress of students. For the IG, the female teachers with longer teaching experience obtained a higher median in relation to the men with less teaching experience (p