Subjective well-being, psychological well-being and anxiety symptoms of medical and pharmacy students in Namibia

Abstract

Medical and pharmacy students at the School of Medicine of Namibia underwent a survey investigating their level of mental well-being and anxiety symptoms. Not only were the two constructs, subjective well-being and psychological well-being positively inter- related but also correlated inversely with anxiety symptoms. Environmental mastery in the psychological well-being scale was negatively associated with anxiety (coefficient: -0.17, 95% CI: [-0.27,-0.7], p-value = 0.001). Supportive qualitative data brought some environmental challenges forward that were typical for medical and pharmacy students as these professions are fundamentally emotionally challenging, in addition to a taxing curriculum, work overload and time constraints influencing well-being negatively. Supplementary information contributed towards additional challenges which deviate from the common hardships of studying high profile professions such as medicine and pharmacy. Firstly, most of the students needed to migrate to the capital city to study, finding themselves in a new and unfamiliar environment; and, secondly poverty influenced the well-being of the students in addition to physical safety issues.