Unraveling Motivation: What Drives Medical Students to Perform at Their Best?

Background: Given the rigorous and demanding nature of medical education, understanding student motivation is crucial for educators and policy makers to optimize learning environments and effectively cultivate future doctors. Hence this study was aimed to identify the predominant type of motivation among phase I medical students, including their subscales along with the gender-based variations in motivational drives. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 phase-I MBBS students at a tertiary medical college. The validated Academic Motivation Scale - College version (AMS-C 28) was used for identifying the motivational profile of the students. Data was analysed using IBM SPSS version 27. Mean scores were calculated using the AMS-C scoring key to determine the distribution of students across motivational types and their subscales. Fisher’s exact test was used to find association between gender and motivational types. p<0.05 was kept as significant. Results: The study included 100 phase I MBBS students, comprising 63 females and 37 males. The mean age of the participants was 19.35±0.88. In our study, the majority of the students were extrinsically motivated (64%), with identified regulation being the most frequent extrinsic motivation subscale (51.5%). Intrinsically motivated students constituted 30% of the sample. Additionally,5% of participants demonstrated both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, while 1% reported amotivation. No significant association was found between students’ motivational type and gender. Conclusion: Medical students exhibit distinct motivational profiles. By acknowledging and addressing these individual motivational differences, educators can create more effective pedagogical strategies that leads to enhanced learning and professional satisfaction.