Abstract:

Objective: To explore the differences and causes of undergraduates' mental stress under different curriculum systems.Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted on 380 randomized undergraduate students of clinical major under different curriculums in our school with a self-made questionnaire. A comparative analysis was made of 36 stresses questions, including three modules: learning, living and employment. Results: Learning stress（χ2=8.71, P<0.01）, clinical practice stress（χ2=10.62, P<0.01）,comprehensive course stress（χ2=19.65, P<0.01）and self-study stress（χ2=4.06, P<0.05）of students from the outstanding physician class were significantly higher than those from the regular class. However, life stress（χ2=8.12, P<0.01）and employment stress（χ2=
4.11, P<0.05）of the latter were significantly higher than those of the former. Conclusion: The differences of mental stress among clinical medical students under different curricular systems are mainly manifested in the aspect of learning. Students "under the curricular system which takes organ system as the center" tend to have more stress in their learning environments, curriculums and self-learning abilities than students "under the curricular system which takes the subjects as the center"; students in the regular class
have greater stress in life and employment than those in the outstanding physician class.

Key words: different curriculum systems, clinical medicine undergraduates, mental stress