Abstract Stress is a part of our life, especially for those who live a hectic life.

Among the students, stress is often associated to those who pursue their study in critical courses especially medicine. Stress could lead to many issues such as emotional and mental disorder which can harm their health condition. Coping strategies were the method that is used to deter stress. This study has been conducted to identify the major cause of stress and coping strategies used by medical students of Centre for Foundation Studies International Islamic University Malaysia (CFS IIUM). This study involved 25 undergraduates medical students who were randomly selected through cluster sampling method. This study was conducted through self-administered questionnaire which consisted of 10 closed ended questions and Personal Stress Inventory. As a result, the major cause of stress selected by respondents was academic pressure with overwhelming of 68% votes and the most common coping strategy used was sleeping with 36% votes. Overall, more than half of the students have low level of stress and they use coping strategies to prevent stress from worsening. Academic pressure is the primary factor of stress among the students. Hence, the results of this study can be used to determine the preventive measures in stress among the medical students. Keywords: Stress, Causes, Coping strategies, Academic pressure, Medical students.