Résumé
The aim of this study was to evaluate the perceived causes of stress among dental undergraduates studying at Army Medical College, Rawalpindi. Evaluation of student's perception will be helpful in taking measures to improve the academic performance and psycho-social well-being. Modified Dental Environment Stress [DES] questionnaire was distributed among the dental undergraduates during the middle of academic year 2013-2014. The students were included in the study on voluntary basis, 195 questionnaires were distributed and 164 were returned [84% response rate]. The questionnaire was analyzed using SPSS-15. The Mann-Whitney test and Kruskal-Walis test were applied. The level of significance was set at p<0.05. The most common stressor among the 1[st], 3[rd] and final year students was the fear of failing the professional exams [mean and SD were 2.82/1.18, 2.63/1.00, 2.95/0.96 respectively] where as the overloaded feeling due to huge syllabus was the highest stressor among the 2[nd] year students [mean and SD were 3.02/0.96]. Comparing the gender with the stress perception revealed that the 3 most bigger stressor among the female undergraduate students were fear of failing the course, overloaded feeling due to huge syllabus and the fear of dealing with patients who do not disclose contagious disease, where as the male undergraduate students found the overloaded feeling due to huge syllabus as the biggest stressor followed by fear of failing the course and lack of time to do the assigned task. The findings of this study suggest that academic and clinical workloads are the primary sources of stress among the Dental undergraduates at Army Medical College. Dental educators can encourage students to be realistic