Unravelling medical students' motivation across their academic journey

Introduction: Student motivation in teaching-learning is pivotal in promoting overall well-being, enhancing performance, and nurturing skilled professionals. Knowledge about student motivation allows educators to broaden their understanding, and this study investigates the levels of student motivation at different phases of their medical education. Methods: A quantitative study explored medical students' academic motivation using the validated Academic Motivation Scale AMS-C 28, with a rating on a 7-point Likert Scale. IBM-SPSS was used to analyse the data. Results: A total of 105 students participated in the study. The results indicated that students exhibited higher levels of intrinsic motivation compared to extrinsic motivation. The mean score for intrinsic motivation (M=5.13, SD=0.91) surpassed that of extrinsic motivation (M=4.63, SD=1.00). Regarding the association between academic year and student motivation, second-year and fourth-year medical students exhibited the highest intrinsic motivation (M=5.36, SD=0.8) and (M=5.36, SD=0.68), respectively, and second-year medical students showed the highest extrinsic motivation (M=4.87, SD=0.96) compared to other academic years, but this difference was statistically not significant. Conclusion: The findings exhibited higher levels of intrinsic motivation, indicating active involvement in learning activities and deriving satisfaction from the course. The MBBS students in the second year displayed more intrinsic motivation, influenced by the challenging nature of successfully completing the first year, which is historically associated with a high failure rate.