Sport in the life of students of medical universities in Russia

Abstract

Sport is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle and has a direct and indirect impact on the quality of life of the population. The authors, within the framework of a sociological survey, consider the features of the ideas and motivational attitudes of students of eight Russian medical universities that determine their commitment to sports and identify a number of factors that affect the involvement of respondents in sports life at the stage of higher education. According to the survey results, respondents changed the structure of their sports activity downward after entering a medical university, which is primarily due to a high level of academic load, lack of finances and a decrease in motivation to play sports. There is a contradiction: medical students have knowledge about the role of sports in preserving health however, they record a low level of their personal involvement in sports. However, the saving of time due to the reduction / refusal of respondents from sports and the priority of the vector of efforts formed in the study group to obtain professional knowledge, skills and abilities to provide highly qualified assistance to the population (even taking into account the risks to their own health), in the opinion of the authors, indirectly confirms the preservation of the altruistic component of medical activity and the readiness of medical university students to the special requirements and risks of the chosen profession.