Investigating the Impact of Community Volunteerism on the Mental Health of Medical Students.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze the impact of community service on the mental health of medical students through their perception of stress. METHODS: The 10-item Perceived Stress Scale was used to measure the stress levels of 82 medical students over a 3-month period. Additional survey questions gauged students' weekly volunteer experiences in clinical and nonclinical settings and their perceived effects on stress and quality of life. RESULTS: Results found an inverse relationship between the number of clinical volunteer hours and perceived stress (P = .0497). Nonclinical and total volunteer hours were correlated with both reduced perceived stress levels (nonclinical P = .0095, total P = .0052) and better quality of life (nonclinical P = .0301, total P = .0136). All individual perceived stress scores fell into the low or moderate stress ranges of the Perceived Stress Scale per the week-to-week analysis. CONCLUSION: The preliminary results raised important research questions about the impact of volunteering on medical student perceived stress. As medical students face higher levels of stress in comparison to the general population, it is exceedingly important to determine methods to decrease their risk of compromising their mental health. This study may aid in decision-making and research in favor of or against offering community service opportunities as part of the core medical education curriculum.

Validation of water-borne cortisol and corticosterone in tadpoles: Recovery rate from an acute stressor, repeatability, and evaluating rearing methods.

Amphibian populations are declining globally, so understanding how individuals respond to anthropogenic and environmental stressors may aid conservation efforts. Using a non-invasive water-borne hormone assay, we measured the release rates of two glucocorticoid hormones, corticosterone and cortisol, in Rio Grande Leopard frog, Rana berlandieri, tadpoles. We validated this method pharmacologically and biologically using an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) challenge, exposure to exogenous corticosterone, and an agitation test. We calculated the repeatability of hormone release rates, the recovery time from an acute stressor, and explored rearing methods for tadpoles. Tadpole corticosterone release rates increased following an ACTH challenge, exposure to exogenous corticosterone, and agitation, validating the use of water-borne hormone methods in this species. After exposure to an acute stressor via agitation, corticosterone release rates began to decline after 2 h and were lowest after 6 h, suggesting a relatively rapid recovery from an acute stressor. Tadpoles reared in groups had higher corticosterone release rates than tadpoles reared individually, and lost mass by Day 7, while tadpoles reared individually did not show a stress response, therefore either rearing method is viable, but have differing physiological costs for tadpoles. Repeatability of corticosterone release rates was moderate to high in R. berlandieri tadpoles, indicating that this species can show a response to selection and potentially respond to rapid environmental change. Our results show that the water-borne hormone assay is a viable way to measure glucocorticoids in this species and is useful in the field of conservation physiology for rare and endangered species.