Role of Demographic Factors on Academic Motivation of Medical Students in a Malaysian Private University

@#Introduction: Medical students are highly motivated compared to other students in higher education. Various factors internal and external to the students can affect their academic motivation. It has direct bearing on their performance as well as their professional development. The present study aims to validate the adapted questionnaire on academic motivation of medical students in Malaysia and to study the influence of gender, ethnicity, and year of study on it. Methods: The quantitative research approach using the cross-sectional survey design is used in the present research. Stratified random sampling method used to collect data from 318 participants using adapted academic motivation scale for college students. The reliability and construct validity of the instrument was evaluated. The data was analysed, for inferential statistics using SPSS version 26. Results: The intrinsic and extrinsic motivation was higher in female medical students. However, the male students are significantly amotivated. Variation in different types of motivation was observed among three ethnic groups. A significant (p<0.005) difference was found in Introjected regulation and amotivation among ethnic groups. Medical students of clinical years had higher score for Intrinsic motivation and lower score for extrinsic motivation. Amotivation was comparable in medical students of all years with lowest in year 2 students. The level of different types of motivation differs among the medical students of different gender, ethnicity, and year of study. Conclusion: The educators and the curriculum designers need to strategize to improve the motivation of the medical students which will improve their academic performance and well-being.

Entrepreneurial Intention of Medical Students in Malaysia: Does Socio-Demographic Profile Matter?

@#Introduction: Though there are abundant studies on entrepreneurial intention among students pursuing higher education, there is a lacuna in understanding the entrepreneurial intention of medical students. In the present scenario of increasing unemployment among young medical graduates, this quantitative study was conducted with an aim to examine the level of entrepreneurial intention among medical students and the socio-demographic factors influencing it. Methods: The participants were 318 medical students of a private university in Malaysia. A cross-sectional study design with a validated adapted questionnaire was used to collect data. The data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: A moderately high level of entrepreneurial intention was found among the study population. Regression analysis revealed a statistically significant impact of gender and marital status on their entrepreneurial intention while ethnicity, year of study, household income or educational loan did not have a significant influence. Conclusion: Medical students in Malaysia showed a moderately high inclination towards an entrepreneurial career. Non-economic factors like gender and marital status proved to be stronger influencers of entrepreneurial intention than economic factors. This may help policy makers plan strategies to sustain their entrepreneurial intentions and facilitate for more entrepreneurial activities among young doctors in the futu

Professional Identity of Medical Students of Malaysia: Influence of Demographic Factors

@#Introduction: In medical education one of the main goal is to facilitate the development of professional identity of medical students. It is influenced by sociocultural factors whose influence has been examined by the empirical scholarship on professional identity research in a robust way. The current research studied the influence of gender, ethnicity and year of study on the professional identity of medical students using a validated instrument. Methods: The quantitative research approach using the cross sectional survey design is adopted in the present study. The instrument for the measurement of professional identity was developed using the items adapted from previous research. Stratified random sampling was used to collect the data from 318 participants. The reliability and construct validity of the instrument was evaluated using Smart PLS 3. Data was analysed, for descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS version 26. Result: Ethnicity, gender and year of study had an impact on the professional identity of medical students. Indian ethnicity had significantly higher positive influence. The female students had higher professional identity than male medical students. As the students’ progressed to higher level of their training their professional identity progressively decreased. Conclusion: The medical students trained with similar curricular activities and the learning experiences develop different levels of professional identity. The level of professional identity developed by the medical students in deferent gender, ethnicity, and year of study differes. The sociocultural factors need to be considered when designing activities aimed at development of medical students’ professional identity.