Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research. 2021 Oct, Vol-15(10): BC14-BC16 14 14 DOI: 10.7860/JCDR/2021/51504.15509 Original Article Biochemistry Section Volunteering Motivations of Medical Undergraduates for Community Service at a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital- A Qualitative Study INTRODUCTION Volunteering is an act of free will, where an individual serves to benefit others without expecting any monetary benefit [1]. Many individuals devote time and energy for this. A study in the United States reported that 25% of people between the age group of 16- 24 years took part in volunteering in 2015 [2]. In Indian culture the value of charity, “shramdaan” (giving of effort or labour) is placed on a high pedestal. Kundu V, states that it is an expression of free will and imbibed societal values that enable an individual to locate himself or herself in relation to others. It fulfils a socio-psychological need of belonging in relation to others [3]. The National Medical Commission of India’s (NMC) expectations of an Indian Medical Graduate are according to the Vision 2015 guidelines; that he/she will be a good Clinician, Communicator, Leader, Lifelong learner, and a Professional. The NMC is also interested in creating an Indian Medical Graduate (IMG) who has knowledge about the community and its problems [4]. There are few studies from Western countries that have tried to understand the factors influencing students’ motivation to volunteer for community service and much less on medical student’s motivation to volunteer for community service. Loh AZ et al., reported that the motivation of medical students to participate in community service was mainly compassion, self-discovery and past positive experience in community service. They also found that it improved their empathy, organisational, communication, interpersonal, leadership and decision making skills [5]. On literature survey, there are no such studies from India on this area, and this project was conceived to explore the motivations of medical students to volunteer for community service. The present study was undertaken to identify the factors that influence the motivation to volunteer for community service by medical students. MATERIALS AND METHODS The present study was a descriptive study conducted over a period two weeks in November 2017. The paradigm followed was constructivist and a descriptive approach was used. Institutional Ethical Committee clearance was obtained from IEC Dr. PSIMS and RF with approval number Faculty/225/2017 dated 20-10-2017 and informed consent was obtained from all the participants. The participants were all the medical undergraduates of a tertiary care medical college who took part in voluntary community service at a health camp where the first and third authors would go monthly to offer their services. They were mainly from 3 rd , 5 th , 7 th and 9 th semesters. Purposive sampling was done in the present study. Sample size of the study was 20 as the data was saturated by then. Study Instrument A semi-structured interview guide was prepared for interviewing the students by the first and second authors. It was based on motives from a standardised motivation to volunteer inventory developed in Australia [6], and it was examined by senior faculty for content validity. Later, a pilot test was done by conducting semi-structured interviews for 10 other students who were involved in voluntary service but were not the study participants to see whether the questions were being understood and any new themes emerged that were different from the Voluntary Functions Inventory (VFI) of Clary and Snyder [6]. The interviews lasted between 45 minutes to an hour. The interviews were held in a quiet room and privacy was ensured. During the community medicine hours, which is around two hours the participants were interviewed by the first and second authors. As the student entered the room the interviewer greeted the student warmly and as the authors were known to the students, they felt comfortable. After asking about their welfare UB VIJAYALAKSHMI 1 , V CHANDRASEKHAR 2 , P SRINIVASA RAO 3 Keywords: Career, Clary and snyder, Enhancement, Motives, Values ABSTRACT Introduction: There are very few studies from Western countries and almost none from India, that have tried to understand the factors influencing students’ motivation to volunteer for community service and much less on medical student’s motivation to volunteer for community service. Aim: To identify the factors that influence motivation of medical students to volunteer for community service. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive study was done over a period of two weeks in November 2017. The study participants were medical students of a private medical college from Southern India. Semi-structured interviews were conducted using an interview guide based on a standardised motivation to volunteer inventory. Data was collected till data saturation was reached, which was 20 students. The interviews were conducted in privacy. Verbatim notes were taken and the interview was also recorded after taking consent from the participants. The data was transcribed and triangulation done. The data was analysed using the thematic analysis approach. Results: The main motives were enhancement and career motives. Value was not the main motive. Two other motives emerged, that were curiosity and relief from boredom. Conclusion: The study shows that the main motives behind volunteerism were enhancement and career. This was the first such study from India to the best of our knowledge which has enquired into the motives behind volunteerism in medical students.