ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION LEVELS OF DOCTORS DURING STUDYING FOR EXAMINATION FOR SPECIALTY IN MEDICINE - TIPTA UZMANLIK SINAVINA HAZIRLANAN HEK？MLER？N ANKS？YETE VE DEPRESYON DüZEYLER？

The aim of our study was to investigate the anxiety and depression levels of doctors and interns during studying for examination for speciality in medicine. This research is a cross-sectional study. 396 doctors and interns participated from one of the preparation course for the exam in Istanbul. Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Scale were applied to these participants. Among 396 participants %69.7 of them have not graduated from their colleges yet. %30.8 of all participants took the specialization exam at least once. According to the scale results, %49.5 of all participants carry depressive symptoms and this percentage is %58.8 for those who have anxiety symptoms among all participants. While %40.8 of participants who graduated from university have depression symptoms, %53.3 of those who are still medical students carry depression symptoms (p=0.0029). When it is compared according to the existence of anxiety symptoms, the rates for former and latter ones are, respectively, %70.8 and %53.6 (p=0.002). When it is based on aimed speciality, those who gave respond as ‘’my exam score will shape my choice’’ have both the least anxiety and depression levels among all group. In this group, the rates for the existence of depression and anxiety symptoms are, respectively, %36.6 and %46.2 (respectively p<0.001 and p=0.002). When we consider the number of taken exams, those who have not taken any specialization exam before have the highest rate for the existence of depressive symptoms (%54.0) and those who took this exam only once have the least ratio for the existence of depressive symptoms (%28.6). In terms of the existence of anxiety symptoms, those who took the specialization exam twice have the highest rate (%78.8) and those who have not taken this exam before have the least rate (%54.0) (respectively p=0.025 and p=0.031). %49.5 of all participants carry depressive symptoms and %58.8 of all participants have anxiety symptoms in our study. When it is compared focusing on sexes, women tend to have a significantly higher rate in terms of the existence of depression symptoms than men. Examination for a speciality in medicine is an important aim for medical students and doctors. Because of the fact that this exam is very crucial to medical students for their professional careers, it is inevitable that this exam has some negative effects on their mental health status