Exploring Needs of Medical Students for Co-Curricular and Extracurricular Activities in A Public Sector Medical University

Abstract

Objective: This study was designed to exploring needs of medical students for co-curricular and extracurricular activities in a public sector medical university. Study Design: Cross Sectional Study. Settings: Faisalabad Medical University, Faisalabad. Duration:16 months from July 2017 to October 2018. Methodology: A properly designed and tested questionnaire was distributed among students of all years. Extracurricular activities were divided into five categories: Games, Clubs, Societies, Workshops and Language learning. Sample size was 269 out of which 56 students belonged to 1st year, 58 students were from 2nd year, 47 students classified among 3rd year, 42 students were from 4th year and 56 students belonged to final year. Results: It is found that Badminton is the highly rated sport, accounted for 57.2% followed by video games (53.15%) and cricket (54.62%). 183 (68.02%) are interested in First Aid Society, 120 (44.60%) prefer Media & Photography club, 119 (44.23%) want to be part of student council. Career counseling 175 (65.05%) and stress management 172(63.94%) workshops were highly demanded. As for languages majority students showed interest in learning English 186 (69.14%) and Arabic 169 (61.33%). Conclusion: It is concluded that majority of the students have shown a keen interest in various extracurricular and co-curricular activities. All medical colleges and universities are recommended to have proper physical education curriculum and medical education department which should offer standardized activities ranging from sports, languages, various societies and lastly workshops to address the needs of their students.