The current global shortage of healthcare professionals has become increasingly severe. A thorough understanding of medical students’ learning motivation is crucial for developing effective admission strategies and enhancing the quality of medical education. This study aims to investigate the structural relationships between sources of motivation and learning enthusiasm among medical students. The sample comprised 466 enrolled students from Taiwan, including those in general medicine, graduate-entry medicine, and dentistry programs. Data were collected through a cross-sectional questionnaire survey measuring five constructs: family caregiving, social service, professional development, socioeconomic status, and learning enthusiasm. Regression analysis results indicated that family caregiving has a significant direct effect on social service (β = .486) and can indirectly predict learning enthusiasm through professional development (indirect effect = .179). Social service also significantly influences professional development (β = .451), which in turn indirectly enhances learning enthusiasm (indirect effect = .259). Among all variables, professional development exerts the strongest direct effect on learning enthusiasm (β = .574). Although socioeconomic status is not a direct predictor of learning enthusiasm, it functions as a dependent variable in the pathways involving other constructs.These findings highlight the interactive influence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors on medical students’ learning enthusiasm, providing empirical evidence and theoretical insights to inform admission policies and curriculum design in medical education.

Authors:
Shu-Jyun Liou, National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan
Chih Ting Chang, National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan
Shu-Cing Yang, National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Shujun Liou is an education researcher with a doctoral degree, currently focusing on empirical and applied studies in the field of education.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Sunday Schedule

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