The association between medical students' motivation with learning environment, perceived academic rank, and burnout

OBJECTIVES: To assess the correlations between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, personal growth and quality of life with learning environment perceptions, perceived academic rank and burnout among medical students. METHODS: Cross-sectional questionnaires were administered to medical students at three medical schools in Israel, Malaysia, and China, at the end of one academic year. Surveys included demographic data, students' perceived academic rank, two learning environment perceptions scales, and scales for personal growth, goal orientation, burnout and quality of life. Comparative analyses were made to determine the significance of relationships between the outcome measures and control variables, using a series of t-tests. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to test the hypothesis. RESULTS: Sixty-four percent (400/622) of the students responded. Significant correlations were found between: intrinsic motivation (r((398) )=.37, p<.001); personal growth (r((398))=.62, p<.001); and quality of life (r((398))= .48, p <.001) with higher learning environment perceptions, intrinsic motivation (r((398))= .21, p<.001); personal growth (r((398)) =.21, p< .001); and quality of life (r((398))=.18, p<.001) with perceived academic rank, and negative correlation between personal growth (r((398)) =-.38, p<.001); and quality of life (r((398)) =-.42, p<.001) with burnout. CONCLUSIONS: Intrinsic motivation, personal growth and quality of life are correlated with higher learning environment perceptions and perceived academic rank. Burnout is influenced by personal growth and quality of life. We suggest focusing on motivation profiles before acceptance to medical school and during studies.