Impact of a Stress Management Training Course (FORSE)

Evaluating the Impact of a Stress Management Training Course for ECOS Preparation for Medical Students

Objective structured clinical examinations (ECOS) are playing an increasingly important role in the training and assessment of medical students, and now account for 30% of the grade for access to the 3rd cycle of medical studies.

Although students generally seem to have a favorable opinion of this examination modality, several studies have reported that ECOS are a greater source of stress than other types of examination, particularly written examinations.

The investigators aim to assess the benefits of a stress management training for medical students, on the negative impact of stress during ECOS.

The investigators hypothesize that training in stress management could be beneficial for medical students, in particular to prepare them mentally to limit the negative impact of stress durgin ECOS, and ultimately reduce their overall stress and potentially improve their performance.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Stress
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Stress management training

Detailed Description

Objective structured clinical examinations (ECOS) are playing an increasingly important role in the training and assessment of medical students, and now account for 30% of the grade for access to the 3rd cycle of medical studies.

Although students generally seem to have a favorable opinion of this examination modality, several studies have reported that ECOS are a greater source of stress than other types of examination, particularly written examinations.

Anxiety can affect students' performance, although not all studies have found a significant correlation between results and students' state of anxiety.

However, it is essential to take account of students' well-being, especially as it has been shown that medical students suffer from symptoms of anxiety and depression, some of which may be related to their studies.

It is therefore important to reduce these symptoms of anxiety in order to improve students' well-being, and eventually their performance during ECOS.

A number of studies have looked at ways of reducing student anxiety, including breathing relaxation techniques and anxiety management programs. Preparation, stress management and self-confidence can have a calming effect, and may even have a positive impact on exam performance.

The visual analog stress scale and the STAI questionnaire are two validated and commonly used methods for stress assessment. The investigators modified the visual scale to assess the functional impact of stress on ECOS performance.

The investigators hypothesize that training in stress management could be beneficial for medical students, in particular to prepare them mentally to limit the negative impact of stress durgin ECOS, and ultimately reduce their overall stress and potentially improve their performance.

The investigators aim to assess the benefits of a stress management training for medical students, on the negative impact of stress during ECOS.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 300

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Medical students from Paris Saclay University, during hospital internships

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Medical students from Paris Saclay University, during hospital internships
• Agreeing to take part in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Refusal to participate in the study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Medical students; Medical students from the University of Paris-Saclay, during hospital internships Stress assessement with or without a stress management training	Behavioral: Stress management training; Stress management training

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Functional impact of stress after ECOS	Score for the functional impact of stress after ECOS, with or without stress management training From 0 = No negative impact of stress on ECOS performance To 10 = Extremely negative impact of stress on ECOS performance	3 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Anxiety score	Anxiety score on STAI (State and Trait Anxiety Inventory) after ECOS, with or without stress management training From 0 = no anxiety To 40 = very high anxiety	3 years
ECOS scores	ECOS scores, with or without stress management training From 0 = lowest score To 10 = highest score	3 years

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Université Paris-Saclay

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): May 15, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 15, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 15, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 30, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 4, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): May 8, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 8, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 4, 2024
• Last Verified: May 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: FORSE_001

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No