Building resilience through self-regulated learning: Addressing academic stress in medical school

Abstract

High academic stress makes suicide rates among medical students a concern. In Indonesia, the prevalence of suicidal intent among medical students is reported to be quite high. Previous studies also revealed that around 67.5% of medical students experienced academic stress at a severe level. Various studies have shown that medical students have a high risk of experiencing mental stress due to academic, competency, and social demands. This study aims to explore how self-regulated learning can help medical students build mental resilience and cope with academic stress. Self-regulated learning plays an important role in coping with academic stress, particularly in medical education settings. The concept is that learners actively plan, monitor, and regulate cognitive, motivational, and behavioral strategies to achieve academic goals. In the context of medical education, self-regulated learning allows students to develop adaptive techniques that improve academic performance and psychological well-being. By developing practical self-management skills, such as planning, self-monitoring, and performance assessment, students can better cope with intense academic challenges. Ongoing support from educational institutions is needed, both through teaching these skills and providing resources that support students' psychological well-being.