Stress among Dental Students in Saudi Dental Colleges: Part I: Coping Strategies

Aim:The aim of the study is to investigate coping strategies used by dental students in Saudi dental colleges.Materials and Methods: A total of 509 dental students and interns from Saudi dental colleges participated in the study by answering a questionnaire sent to them by web link survey conducted through Survey Monkey.Statistical Analysis: All data was transferred to Statistical Package for the Social Sciences statistical software (SPSS version 16.0).Descriptive statistics are presented.Results: Dental interns and students highest coping method (52.8%) is by "find comfort in my religion".The method of "get emotional support and / or academic advice from others" is chosen by 30.1% and 29.5% as "I have not done this at all" and ""I have been doing this slightly" respectively.Conclusion: Interns and students in Saudi dental colleges chose "to find my comfort in my religion" to cope with stress they face in the dental college.It is important that dental colleges incorporate stress-coping programs in their academic activities.