Determinants of and differences in learning motivation between first and second year pre-clinical medical students

Abstract

Background: A number of studies have investigated the motivations that underlie career choice in medical students. However, the motivations to learn the biomedical sciences in preclinical medical students are not well understood. The aim of this study was to characterise and describe the differences in components of motivation between first and second year medical students at the University of Malta. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional questionnaire based investigation that utilised the validated Glynn Science Motivation Questionnaire II to evaluate the components of learning motivation to study the biomedical sciences in a cohort of 128 preclinical medical students. Results: Second year students scored significantly higher in intrinsic motivation, selfefficacy, self-determination and career motivation but not in grade motivation, when compared to first-year students. Factor analysis showed that self-determination and grade motivation were the most effective learning motivation factors in the entire cohort. Conclusion: Our results identified significant differences in the overall motivational profile between first and second year medical students. This exploratory study presents an opportunity for further research in this field in the local student population, and its findings should be useful to instructors and policy makers to further enhance medical curricula. Given the evolving nature of the medical profession and the increasing importance of internationalisation and competitiveness, it essential that the medical education process is continually revised to feature students’ motivation in its delivery.