Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Perspect Med Educ. 2020 Apr;9(2):92-97. doi: 10.1007/s40037-020-00560-w.
The effectiveness of medical school efforts in addressing suboptimal student wellbeing rests, in part, on how students perceive their learning environment. The study aim was to determine whether students' sport background was a contributing factor in students' perceptions of the medical program as supportive of their basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. We also examined the relationship between sport background and students' leisure-time exercise in medical school.
Using an online questionnaire, quantitative data were collected from students enrolled in the 4‑year medical program at a large Canadian university. Two hundred (n = 200) students had complete responses on the measures used in the study. Analysis of variance and correlational analysis were used to examine the relationships between students' sport background, their perceptions of the learning environment, and leisure-time exercise in medical school.
Compared with students with no sport background, students with a team sport background perceived their need for relatedness to be satisfied to a greater degree in the medical program. Students who pursued sports at higher levels of involvement (competitively) perceived the medical program as more autonomy-supportive than students who pursued sports at lower levels of involvement (recreationally). Irrespective of their sport background, students' involvement in leisure-time exercise decreased over the years in the medical program. However, students with a sport background engaged in leisure-time exercise in medical school to a greater extent than students with no sport background.
The findings indicate that sport background is associated with students' perceptions of the learning environment as supportive of their needs for autonomy and relatedness, but not for competence, and is linked to their leisure-time exercise in medical school. The observed relationships could help inform medical schools curricular initiatives in preventing student burnout right from the start of medical school.
医学院校在解决学生身心健康欠佳问题上的效果部分取决于学生对学习环境的看法。本研究旨在确定学生的运动背景是否是学生对医学课程支持其自主、能力和相关基本心理需求的看法的一个影响因素。我们还研究了运动背景与医学生课余锻炼之间的关系。
使用在线问卷，从一所大型加拿大大学的 4 年制医学课程的学生中收集定量数据。200 名（n=200）学生对研究中使用的测量工具给出了完整的答复。方差分析和相关分析用于检验学生的运动背景、对学习环境的看法以及医学生课余锻炼之间的关系。
与没有运动背景的学生相比，有团队运动背景的学生在医学课程中感受到更大程度的归属感。参与运动水平较高（竞技性）的学生比参与运动水平较低（娱乐性）的学生认为医学课程更具自主性。无论学生是否有运动背景，他们在医学课程中的课余锻炼量都随着时间的推移而减少。然而，有运动背景的学生在医学课程中进行课余锻炼的程度比没有运动背景的学生高。
研究结果表明，运动背景与学生对学习环境的看法有关，认为学习环境支持他们的自主和归属感需求，但不支持能力需求，同时也与他们在医学课程中的课余锻炼有关。观察到的关系可以帮助医学院校从医学课程开始就针对学生倦怠问题制定课程计划。
