Stress amongst medical students is often overlooked. Intelligent students are not always the most composed. This study aimed to look at both male and female students of three different ethnic groups and the effects of stress in areas such as academic, social, financial and their everyday life. The Chinese students reported significantly less “academic stress” than the Malay students, and the Malay students reported significantly less “financial stress” compared to the Chinese and Indian students. Medical education can be a health hazard for medical students.

Introduction: Motivation in Malaysia is to a large extent influenced by the value system amongst all Malaysians. Being able to motivate employees is one of the important keys to the success of the organization. In this paper, an attempt was made to look into the needs of employees in organizations and in particular, the needs based on Maslow’s theory on motivation. Subjects and Methods: Employees which consisted of both academic and administrative employees of the International Medical University (IMU) were surveyed using a standard questionnaire. The aim of this study was to compare which levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory had been fulfilled and which needs were yet to be fulfilled in the different ethnic groups at IMU. Results: Amongst the males, the Chinese and Indian ethnic groups placed most emphasis on the esteem needs and on self-actualization needs. The Malay males gave importance to Safety needs. Amongst the female ethnic groups, all three groups placed most importance on the esteem needs and self-actualization needs. The Chinese females scored the lowest for the Basic needs compared to the Malay and Indian females. The Indian females scored the lowest for Social needs. Conclusion: Organisations should play an important role in the motivation of employees. Human resource development is an integral part in the development of its employees.