Nonscholastic Qualities and their Association with Internet Addiction among Medical Students

Abstract

Abstract Background: For health professionals, medical students’ nonacademic skills are a major topic of concern. These traits, which include personality traits, social skills, and communication abilities, are necessary for a medical professional to perform well. On the other hand, concerns are starting to be raised as the rate of Internet addiction rises in popularity. Despite the fact that the Internet is a great resource for research, students frequently had serious academic issues. Furthermore, their personal qualities outside of school must be impacted. Objectives: The objective of the study was to assess the nonscholastic qualities of medical students, to assess the level of Internet addiction, and to establish an association between the nonscholastic qualities and Internet addiction among the students. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done on the undergraduate students of Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore. The questionnaire was prepared after an extensive review of the literature. Hence, the semi-structured questionnaire consists of three sections – Section I consists of a demographic study; Section II consists of nonscholastic qualities determinant questions; and Section III consists of questions focused on studying Internet addiction. The questionnaires used are standard questionnaires, and prior permission from the creators was taken. Results: In our survey, the majority of students (67.7%, 174/257) were determined to have strong nonacademic traits. Few (3.11%, 8/257) had poor nonacademic qualities, whereas 29.18% (7/257) had average nonacademic qualities. Only 7.00% (18/257) of students were found to have severe Internet addiction levels, whereas the bulk of students, 47.85% (123/257), had moderate levels. The remaining 116 kids had a similar distribution of moderate and normal Internet addiction. Conclusion: We can conclude that students should understand the harmful effect of Internet addiction and how it could affect them and focus more on developing their nonscholastic qualities to complement their professional careers in the future.