The relationship between lifelong learning tendencies and happiness in Medical students

Indroduction and Aim: Medical students undertake an important role inprotecting and improving human health through a long and challenging educationprocess. In this process, it is very important that they develop not only medicalknowledge and skills but also lifelong learning skills. Lifelong learning is the abilityto manage one's own learning process, to be open to acquiring new knowledge andskills, and to enjoy this learning process. In a field such as medicine, which isconstantly developing and renewing, the development of lifelong learning skillsenables physicians to maintain and improve their professional competencies.However, in addition to the learning process, the mental health and happiness ofmedical students is also very important. In this context, the aim of this thesis is toexamine the relationship between lifelong learning tendencies and happiness levels ofmedical students and to shed light on the possible effects of this relationship on theiracademic success and professional development.Materials and Methods: This study was conducted between 01.01.2024-30.04.2024 on 199 students who met the inclusion criteria and were in the 4th, 5th and6th grades of Hitit University Faculty of Medicine. Interviews were conducted face-to-face. The participants were administered the Sociodemographic Data Form, theOxford Happiness Questionnaire Short Form (OHQ-SF) and the Lifelong LearningScale (LLS), which were prepared by the researcher and the administrator.Results: As a result of the study, the mean score of the participants was foundto be 21.1. There was a negative low/moderate correlation between the age of theparticipants and the OHQ-SF score. There was no statistically significant correlationbetween the participants' gender, place of residence and person of residence variablesand the OHQ-SF score (p>0.05). The mean total score of the LLS was found to be71.16. There was no statistically significant correlation between the participants'gender, age group, educational status, place of residence, and person of residencevariables and the total score of the LLS (p>0.05), and a low/moderate positive correlation was found between the OHQ-SF score and the total score of the LLS(p>0.01).Conclusion: As a result of the study, it was determined that both the happinesslevels of the medical faculty students were higher than the middle value of the scaleand their lifelong learning tendencies were high. In addition, it was found that students'lifelong learning dispositions and happiness levels were positively correlated atlow/medium level. In other words, people with a high propensity for lifelong learningare also found to be happier individuals.