Estrés ocupacional en Médicos Postgradistas de cirugía General del Sur de Guayaquil.

Abstract

Occupational stress among general surgery postgraduate physicians in southern Guayaquil represents a relevant issue in the field of occupational health. The study is descriptive-analytical with a cross-sectional design, including the participation of 12 residents from the health area who were evaluated using the PSS-14 and DASS-21 scales, with the aim of estimating stress levels and exploring daily working conditions. 91.7% of the participants work more than 60 hours per week, and 58.3% exceed 80 hours, reporting feelings of overload during their shifts and insufficient rest, presenting high levels of stress as a sign of work–life interference. Among the postgraduate students evaluated, the most frequent manifestations of stress were nervousness, greater emotional reactivity before residency situations, and exhaustion that they describe as difficult to reverse even during their rest periods. Based on this, the findings of this sample suggest that General Surgery programs effectively limit the hours of clinical exposure, so that residents have real access to psychological support under conditions of confidentiality to eradicate the exhaustion of their daily lives.