Participation in extracurricular activities and associated factors among Jaffna medical students

Extracurricular activities (ECA) help to nurture the core competencies of a doctor. This study assessed participation in ECA, barriers and attitudes towards participation, and associated sociodemographic and academic factors among medical students of the University of Jaffna.This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at the Jaffna Medical Faculty. Stratified random sampling was used ensuring proportionate representation from each batch. Data were collected with a self-administered questionnaire. Frequencies, proportions, and the Chi squared test were used in the analysis with SPSS (v21).In total, 332 students participated (response rate 96.5%); 65.1% reported participating in ECA. Among them 44.9% participated in sports, while 47.2% were involved in cultural/ faith-based activities. The majority participated in ECA on less than 3 days per week (68.1%), and for less than 2 hours per day (61%). Lack of time (27.5%) and transport (24.6%) were key barriers to participation. Many agreed that ECA enabled new friendships (63.2%) and enhanced social skills (60.2%). Ethnicity (p=0.03) and household income (p=0.045) were significantly associated with the level of participation; Sinhala and Muslim students and those with lower income participated at a lower level. Although female students reported lower participation, there was no evidence of an association between gender and ECA participation (p>0.05). Programme phase (p<0.001) and first examination results (p=0.019) were significantly associated with level of participation; students in the para-clinical phase and those who achieved class honours reported a lower level of participation.Over a third of students do not participate in any type of ECA at the Jaffna Medical Faculty. Targeted interventions are needed to improve participation with consideration to the barriers and groups who are less likely to participate in ECA.