Effect of a Brief Structured Intervention on Perceived Stress and Coping Patterns Among MBBS Students During Clinical...

Background Clinical postings expose undergraduate medical students to considerable academic and emotional stress, which may adversely affect learning, wellbeing, and professional development. Brief structured interventions incorporating coping skills training have been proposed to mitigate this stress, but data from resource-constrained clinical training settings remain limited. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a brief structured intervention on perceived stress and active coping among undergraduate MBBS students during their Medicine clinical posting. Methodology A pre-post interventional study was conducted among 50 undergraduate MBBS students undergoing Medicine posting at a government medical college. Participants underwent a brief structured program comprising sessions on understanding clinical stress, problem-solving and time-management skills, and basic emotional-regulation techniques. The 10-Item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and the Active Coping subscale of the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE) inventory were administered before and after the intervention. Results Mean PSS-10 scores decreased significantly from 21.44 ± 3.58 to 15.84 ± 4.05 (mean reduction = 5.60 ± 1.87, 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.07-6.13; a 26.9% relative reduction; Wilcoxon signed-rank p < 0.001; Cohen's d = 2.99). Active coping scores increased significantly from 4.22 ± 1.04 to 6.00 ± 1.28 (mean increase = 1.78 ± 0.76, 95% CI = 1.57-1.99; p < 0.001; Cohen's d = 2.33). Every one of the 50 participants (100%) showed a reduction in PSS-10 score and a simultaneous increase in active coping. High-stress classifications fell from 10.0% to 0.0%, and low-stress classifications rose from 2.0% to 26.0%. The magnitude of stress reduction did not correlate significantly with the magnitude of increase in active coping (r = 0.108, p = 0.454). Conclusions A brief structured intervention delivered during clinical posting was associated with a large, uniform reduction in perceived stress and a corresponding improvement in active coping among MBBS students, supporting its incorporation into undergraduate clinical training programs.