Evaluation of the Student’s Preliminary Request for Assistance to the School of Medicine Psychopedagogical Student Support Center (NAPEM) of the Federal University of Minas Gerais

ABSTRACT The psychological distress experienced by university students, particularly medical students, is well-known and has long been a cause for concern. In the School of Medicine of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, the School of Medicine Psychopedagogical Student Support Center (Núcleo de Apoio Psicopedagógico ao Estudante da Faculdade de Medicina - NAPEM) provides care to students who spontaneously seek help. The purpose of this study was to analyze the reasons described when completing the Napem application form by students for their seeking the assistance. A total of 273 students enrolled in the two years studied, which were both in the last decade. To preserve the identity of the students, the years analyzed were not identified. Of this group, 235 were medical students, 28 students of Speech Therapy, four undergraduate students of Technology in Radiology and six were students of other courses. The methodology used for data analysis was qualitative, with content analysis and the frequency comparison was performed using the chi-square test. The reasons to seek care written by the students in the application form were placed in five categories established by the researchers – “mood disorders,” “personal problems,” “personality traits,” “academic issues” and others. The results showed that “mood disorders” were the most frequently reported (44.3%), followed by “personality traits” (26.4%) and “personal problems” (13.9%). The “academic questions” presented the lowest frequency (5.5%). The desire to die was described by 17 (6.2%) students. When the medical students were compared to the students of the other courses, there was no statistically significant difference among the frequencies of the five categories (p = 0.21) with motives allocated in the category “mood disorders” (41.7%) being predominantly observed. However, when considering two studied periods separately, the frequency of the category “mood disorders” for medical students was significantly higher (p = 0.0005) in the second year than in the first year of study. It should be emphasized that almost 50% of the students enrolled in the second year analyzed attended the centre for first two years, a significantly higher result (p = 0.002) when compared to those enrolled in the first year of the study. Even recognizing the limitations regarding the analysis of the student’s preliminary demand for care when seeking help, particularly when expressed in written form, it is believed that the results of this study can contribute to the organization of psychological support services. Due to the magnitude of the problem, there is a clear need to have welcome spaces for the students with activities that can receive them and listen to them when they enter college, such as mentoring programs.