International Journal of Health Sciences & Research (www.ijhsr.org) 132 Vol.7; Issue: 2; February 2017 International Journal of Health Sciences and Research www.ijhsr.org ISSN: 2249-9571 Original Research Article An Exploration Into the Inter Relationship between Personality and Metacognitive Awareness of I Year Medical Students Dr Pallavi Panchu 1 , Dr Biju Bahuleyan 2 , Dr Vineetha Vijayan 3 1 Associate Professor of Physiology, 2 Professor and HOD of Physiology, 3 PG Student of Department of Physiology, Jubilee Mission Medical College & Research Institute, East Fort, Thrissur-680005, Kerala Corresponding Author: Dr Pallavi Panchu Received: 16/01/2017 Revised: 27/01/2017 Accepted: 31/01/2017 ABSTRACT Introduction: Academic stress is the hallmark of present day medical education. To facilitate the learning process, stress alleviation either in the form of therapy or strategies should be implemented. Personality and metacognitive awareness are well known predictors of academic success. Of these two predictors, metacognitive awareness can be inculcated by using specific strategies while moulding the personality of an adult learner is challenging. Hence it can be hypothesized that by improving the metacognitive awareness, a medical student irrespective of personality can be trained and nurtured into an excellent learner and a competent, compassionate doctor provided an interrelationship exists between the two. Aim: The aim of this study was to find out the prevalent personality types, the metacognitive awareness levels in the first year medical students and an interrelationship if any between these variables. Material and methods: Validated questionnaires to assess personality (big five personality test) and metacognitive awareness inventory were administered to the first year medical students. Statistical tests involved were ANOVA and spearmans correlation tests on SPSS version 22. Results: Of the 80 students who consented to participate, conscientiousness was the predominant personality followed by openness, neuroticism, extroversion and agreeableness. Our students were moderately metacognitively aware. The traits of conscientiousness, openness and neuroticism (p<0.01) were positively correlated with metacognitive awareness while extroversion and agreeableness were negatively correlated. Conclusion: Personality exert a profound influence on the metacognitive awareness of the learners. Metacognitive awareness can be taught and strategies can be implemented to improve the awareness in students which may be of particular use in extroverted and agreeable student in order to optimize academic performance. Key words: metacognitive awareness, big five personality, academic performance, medical student INTRODUCTION Stress is the hallmark of present day medical education and an individual’s response to stress depends on his personality. [1] Personality in medical students though being an easy trait to measure is difficult to define and mould. [2] One of the current debates in medical education is the role played by personality to help cope with stress. Personality has been defined as the ‘dynamic organization within the individual of those psychological systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment. [3] Of the various types of stress that a student faces like social related stress, inter personal