Correlation between the health of first-year students and adaptation to educational environment of a medical university

Abstract

  The article presents the results of research on the place and role of health in the process of adaptation of future physicians to educational environment of a medical university. The subject of this article is the dependence of physical and psychological health of first-year students on the of adaptation and anxiety indicators in the university. The research methodology is based on the representation of health as the fundamental determinant responsible for the dynamic balance between students and the new conditions of professional becoming. Methodological toolset contains the following psychological techniques: questionnaires “Adaptation of Students in the University” (T. D. Dubovitskaya, A. V. Krylova), “Anxiety of the Students” (modification of the questionnaire J. Taylor), MOS SF-36 questionnaire (J. E. Ware, adapted by E. I. Shubochkina and co-authors.). The research was conducted during one academic year and consisted of two stages: October 2018 and in April 2019; reference set involved 120 first-year students (63 and 57 people respectively). Implementation φ-Fisher multifunctional, parametric Student’s t-test, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, interpretation and summary of statistical data analysis allowed making conclusions that comply with the set goal advanced hypotheses: the dynamics of subjective assessment by first-year students of their physical and psychological health is characterized with the extended physical and social functioning, endurance, life activity in the context of lower level of role functioning substantiated by the emotional distress; dependence of health on adaptation and anxiety indicators is most evident during the fall semester and least evident in the spring semester; shift of this vector from academic to social adaptation, as well as substantial reduction in the number of intercorrelations, mainstream the problem of the dynamics of determinant impact of health upon the success of initial educational period. The acquired data can find practical implementation in development of theoretical-methodological framework for coordinating the adaptation process of first-year students to the educational environment of a medical university.