The high incidence of physical and mental disorders in university context, mainly presented by medical academics, is significant both for the public health and educational aspects. With the expansion of medical vacancies in the country, it is necessary to produce more knowledge about the models of understanding of these psychic illnesses, their conditioning factors and triggers, as well as their mitigating factors and actions to support these situations. Thus, this study sought to map the scientific production on the subject in Brazil. A systematic review of the literature was done through three electronic databases - PUBMed, Scielo and MedLine, using some descriptors about mental health of medical students in a search of Brazilian publications in the last 25 years. After applying a relevance test, a final sample of 47 articles was obtained in full and with free access. The articles were analyzed in their entirety and mostly portray cross-sectional and quantitative studies carried out in the southeastern and northeastern regions, mainly carried out in public universities and most of the articles were published between 2011 and 2015. The characterization of the disease is the focus of many articles studied, which describe TMC risk charts, depression, anxiety, stress and quality of life among medical students. And for this characterization, the main instruments found in the quantitative studies were SRQ 20, Whoqol-bref and BDI. The manifestation of illness and support actions are the main themes in the studies. The conditioners and triggers appear in the articles as a context of the onset of illness, but few articles focus on these elements and their relationships that would contribute to the configuration of models of understanding the phenomenon. The Review portrays that, in order to better understand the phenomenon of sickness of medical students and to point out strategies for coping with situations of suffering, it would be necessary to expand longitudinal and qualitative studies on the subject and to mature analytical models to advance understanding and intervention.
Key words:
Mental health; Medical students; College education