Coping styles of women medical students

As a student health psychiatrist in a medical school setting, the author has had experience in treating women students who present with various psychiatric complaints, ranging from mild depression and anxiety to psychosis. The concept of role strain will be illustrated as it occurs in the context of the presenting complaint and the subsequent treatment course. Issues of feminine sexuality and sex-role adjustment in single and married students will be discussed. Medical schools can increase their awareness of how sex bias and institutional sexism affect the mental health and well-being of women students and can take appropriate steps to lessen the detrimental effects for women in medical school.