Stress is common among medical students. the present study was undertaken to determine the prevalence and sources of stress among the undergraduate medical students of Tirunelveli medical college. A general Health questionnaire was used and the score was used to assess prevalence of stress. The stressors were identified using a different questionnaire. It was found that the prevalence of stress was 43%. The prevalence was higher among final year students (52%). The study revealed that academic problems (44%) were the greatest source of stress compared to non– academic problems(21%). Among the stressors related to academics amount of information to be learnt  was found to be the greatest cause of stress (54%) . In non – academic problems home–sickness was found to be more common. The study provided insight for development of stress coping strategies among the medical students.