STRESS among medical students has reached such a high level that Hong Kong University is considering changing the curriculum to reduce the pressure of their studies.
Following the suicide of a student last month, the Dean of Medicine at the University, Professor Chow Shew-ping, said talks with students had shown an alarming number were under similar pressure.
The student who died was at the end of his second year and facing examinations - a time which Professor Chow described as one of the most stressful in the whole course.
His death was the second suicide of a medical student at Hong Kong University in three years. There have also been two suicides of medical students at the Chinese University over the past few years.
Professor Chow said the structure of the medical course at Hong Kong University was such that students worked for two years straight, without a break, during their final years which culminate in intensive examinations.
The faculty was considering restructuring the course to spread holidays out more evenly to allow students more breathing space in between their examinations, practical work and formal lectures, he said.
'After the student suicide case last month we talked to the teachers and the students to look at ways of reducing the pressure,' Professor Chow said.
