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Mental health and self-determination profiles of the diverse population of medical students in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction Medical schools throughout the world were forced to modify their programming during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Malaysia, virtual learning plans were implemented for non-clinical programming, while clinical posting modifications were designed to meet local SOPs. The prolonged enforcement...

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Main Authors: Cockburn, Jessica Grace, Tan, Chee Yang, Poh, Dawn Celine Siaw Chern, Tan, Ding Jun, Foong, Chan Choong, Hong, Wei-Han
Format: Article
Published: Springernature 2022
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BF Psychology
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/32751/
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spelling my.um.eprints.327512022-08-09T07:35:30Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/32751/ Mental health and self-determination profiles of the diverse population of medical students in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic Cockburn, Jessica Grace Tan, Chee Yang Poh, Dawn Celine Siaw Chern Tan, Ding Jun Foong, Chan Choong Hong, Wei-Han BF Psychology Introduction Medical schools throughout the world were forced to modify their programming during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Malaysia, virtual learning plans were implemented for non-clinical programming, while clinical posting modifications were designed to meet local SOPs. The prolonged enforcement of these modifications to undergraduate medical education will have affected student experiences, including well-being. Since these feelings can relate to perceived relatedness, autonomy, and competence, it is important to identify any potential factors that may lead to reduced intrinsic motivation in students. It is also important to consider how demographic features may contribute to student perspectives, which can be studied using the unique diversity represented by Malaysian students. Methods A quantitative survey was distributed to Malaysian medical students to assess their overall wellbeing, autonomy in educational decision making, student experiences, and position on changes to graduation timing. Intrinsic components were identified using Principal Component Analysis and were aligned with the three needs for self-determination, namely relatedness, autonomy, and competence. Finally, trends in responses for participants from various sub-populations were assessed using ANOVA testing. Results Responses were collected from 442 students representing 23 accredited Malaysian medical schools. Upon validation and reliability testing, eight components were identified with themes relating to: mental health, social concerns, communication, timing of modifications, depth of learning, and student-centred learning. Of these, gender was related to mental health, student-centred learning, and delayed graduation, while stage was related to student-centred learning and delayed graduation in addition to concerns about depth of learning and timing of modifications. Interestingly, ethnicity was related to differences in opinions about delayed graduation and income was related to social concerns. Conclusion The results of this study indicate that, while students were satisfied in general with the content and delivery of their programmes given the circumstances, there is evidence to suggest negative effects on emotional wellbeing and expression of student voice, due to the modifications that were made. Additionally, these feelings related to the three motivational needs, suggesting that students were experiencing a dampened motivational profile during the pandemic. Further, motivational profiles were distinct between student sub-groups, providing insight for developing appropriate and inclusive accommodations moving forward. Springernature 2022-03-03 Article PeerReviewed Cockburn, Jessica Grace and Tan, Chee Yang and Poh, Dawn Celine Siaw Chern and Tan, Ding Jun and Foong, Chan Choong and Hong, Wei-Han (2022) Mental health and self-determination profiles of the diverse population of medical students in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Psychology, 10 (1). ISSN 2050-7283, DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-022-00759-y <https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-022-00759-y>. 10.1186/s40359-022-00759-y
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic BF Psychology
spellingShingle BF Psychology
Cockburn, Jessica Grace
Tan, Chee Yang
Poh, Dawn Celine Siaw Chern
Tan, Ding Jun
Foong, Chan Choong
Hong, Wei-Han
Mental health and self-determination profiles of the diverse population of medical students in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic
description Introduction Medical schools throughout the world were forced to modify their programming during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Malaysia, virtual learning plans were implemented for non-clinical programming, while clinical posting modifications were designed to meet local SOPs. The prolonged enforcement of these modifications to undergraduate medical education will have affected student experiences, including well-being. Since these feelings can relate to perceived relatedness, autonomy, and competence, it is important to identify any potential factors that may lead to reduced intrinsic motivation in students. It is also important to consider how demographic features may contribute to student perspectives, which can be studied using the unique diversity represented by Malaysian students. Methods A quantitative survey was distributed to Malaysian medical students to assess their overall wellbeing, autonomy in educational decision making, student experiences, and position on changes to graduation timing. Intrinsic components were identified using Principal Component Analysis and were aligned with the three needs for self-determination, namely relatedness, autonomy, and competence. Finally, trends in responses for participants from various sub-populations were assessed using ANOVA testing. Results Responses were collected from 442 students representing 23 accredited Malaysian medical schools. Upon validation and reliability testing, eight components were identified with themes relating to: mental health, social concerns, communication, timing of modifications, depth of learning, and student-centred learning. Of these, gender was related to mental health, student-centred learning, and delayed graduation, while stage was related to student-centred learning and delayed graduation in addition to concerns about depth of learning and timing of modifications. Interestingly, ethnicity was related to differences in opinions about delayed graduation and income was related to social concerns. Conclusion The results of this study indicate that, while students were satisfied in general with the content and delivery of their programmes given the circumstances, there is evidence to suggest negative effects on emotional wellbeing and expression of student voice, due to the modifications that were made. Additionally, these feelings related to the three motivational needs, suggesting that students were experiencing a dampened motivational profile during the pandemic. Further, motivational profiles were distinct between student sub-groups, providing insight for developing appropriate and inclusive accommodations moving forward.
format Article
author Cockburn, Jessica Grace
Tan, Chee Yang
Poh, Dawn Celine Siaw Chern
Tan, Ding Jun
Foong, Chan Choong
Hong, Wei-Han
author_facet Cockburn, Jessica Grace
Tan, Chee Yang
Poh, Dawn Celine Siaw Chern
Tan, Ding Jun
Foong, Chan Choong
Hong, Wei-Han
author_sort Cockburn, Jessica Grace
title Mental health and self-determination profiles of the diverse population of medical students in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_short Mental health and self-determination profiles of the diverse population of medical students in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_full Mental health and self-determination profiles of the diverse population of medical students in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_fullStr Mental health and self-determination profiles of the diverse population of medical students in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Mental health and self-determination profiles of the diverse population of medical students in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_sort mental health and self-determination profiles of the diverse population of medical students in malaysia during the covid-19 pandemic
publisher Springernature
publishDate 2022
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/32751/
_version_ 1740826019965698048
score 13.211869

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