Academic Stressors and Sociodemographic Vulnerabilities Among Medical Students at the University of Ottawa

<ns3:p>Introduction Medical students experience high levels of stress that impact their health and academic performance. Yet, to our knowledge, no prior Canadian study has explored medical training-related stressors, using a validated tool such as the Medical Student Stress Questionnaire, leaving a gap in the national literature. The objective of this study was to determine the major academic stressors and their relationship with sociodemographic factors among medical students at the University of Ottawa. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted using a SurveyMonkey questionnaire from May to August 2024 with the 40 items of the Medical Student Stress Questionnaire. Variables were age, year of study, gender, LGBTQ2S+, ethnicity, rural/urban, living situation, financial situation, disability, and dependents. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVAs, and multiple regression analyses were conducted using SPSS v30.0. The study was approved by the University of Ottawa Research Ethics Board. Results 70 medical students participated, but 60 complete responses were analyzed (85.7%). The mean total Medical Student Stress Questionnaire score was 2.63 ± 0.79, i.e. moderate stress. Academic-related stressors were the highest, particularly high workload, pressure to perform, and frequency of tests and exams. Preclinical students reported higher stressed across all domains. Male students had higher academic-related stressors (p = 0.006), and students with disabilities had higher stress from group work (p = 0.034). Living with family predicted higher teaching and learning stress (p = 0.005). Discussion Stress is common in medical trainees, with domain-specific vulnerabilities indicating the need for universal and targeted interventions to support equity and learner well-being in undergraduate medical education.</ns3:p>