Attitudinal Change toward Yoga after Its Introduction in the New Curriculum

Abstract

Introduction: Benefits of yoga for a healthy life and stress management are proven; yoga was introduced into the new medical curriculum (competency-based medical education) from 2019 batch. This study was conducted to compare the attitudinal change of medical students and to identify the barriers of yoga practice among those with yoga in curriculum to those without. Materials and Methods: Using a cross-sectional study design, a total of 300 students (150 each from sixth [traditional] and fourth semesters [new curriculum]) were contacted. A self-administered researcher-made questionnaire (Google form) was sent to those who consented. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Results: In this comparative study, among fourth and sixth semester students, it was found that 43.4% of the fourth, whereas 53.7% of the sixth semester students, knew about the benefits of yoga (P = 0.040). On comparing their attitude, “it was considered to be purely a weight loss program” by 17.9% of the fourth and 8.8% of the sixth semester students, respectively (P = 0.017). 94.5% students of the fourth semester, whereas 87.1% of the sixth semester, believed that yoga helped in improving immunity (P = 0.023). The barriers for practicing yoga cited were a lack of interest (37.1% by fourth semester, whereas 40% by sixth semester) and a lack of time (33% in fourth semester and 30.5% in sixth semester). Conclusion: The study helped reveal that the integration of yoga into the medical curriculum had brought an attitudinal change in them, but had not influenced their practices. The identified barriers will help implementing yogic lifestyle education programs, increasing its acceptance among medical students.