title: Quality of life among interns at a southern Indian tertiary care hospital: a cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  . Changes in the quality of life of medical students through their internship period have not been studied previously in India. We aimed to quantify the change from the beginning to just after 6 months of internship and identify potential contributing factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  We prospectively evaluated the quality of life issues among 93 medical students doing a rotating internship at the Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore, a tertiary care hospital in southern India. The quality of life was assessed before and halfway during their internship using a sociodemo-graphic profile and the WHO Quality of Life Assessment Instrument Brief Version (WHO-QOL BREF).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The WHO-QOL BREF score decreased during the course of internship in all four domains of the instrument (p<0.001). A significant decline in score of 5 points or more was present among women, those who reported poor sleep and individuals who had an obligation of compulsory rural service after internship.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While internship led to a decline in all domains of quality of life, the decline was most marked among women, individuals with poor sleep and those who had an obligation of compulsory rural service after internship.
authors: Christian Medical College, Vellore 632004, Tamil Nadu, India, psych2@cmcvellore.ac.in- Department of Psychiatry.
authors: Susmita
authors: S
authors: C
authors: Christian Medical College, Vellore 632004, Tamil Nadu, India- Department of Psychiatry.
authors: Deepa
authors: D
authors: Braganza
authors: Christian Medical College, Vellore 632004, Tamil Nadu, India- Department of General Medicine.
authors: Natasha
authors: N
authors: Edwin
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D063128:Tertiary Health Care; D055815:Young Adult