Three out of four students find physical education included in the curriculum important; as new options for exercise, medical and health science students at the University of Pécs would welcome horseback riding, weightlifting, American football and archery – these are the results of the survey conducted by the University of Pécs Medical School Sports and Physical Education Center, aimed at students in medical, dental, pharmacy and health sciences.
The main goals of the UPMS Sports and Physical Education Center are providing in-curriculum physical education for students, and sports services for the Medical School students and employees. They have conducted a survey based on a questionnaire aimed at Medical School, Faculty of Pharmacy and Faculty of Health Sciences students. The survey’s topic was physical activity and sports habits. Aside from socio-demographic, physical activity, sports habits questions, there were also standardized and validated questions about mental health, well-being and satisfaction.
The research surveyed the previous sporting background of Hungarian and international students, and what they bring with them from their primary and secondary schooling physical education classes. They were also asked about how much and what kind of activities they do on a daily basis, how important sport and in-curriculum physical education is in their opinion. Comparing the sports habits of Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences and Faculty of Pharmacy students was also emphasized; the rationale of introducing compulsory in-curriculum physical education at the Faculty of Health Sciences, where taking PE classes is currently not mandatory.
The questionnaire was filled by a total of 536 students (295 Medical School, 194 Faculty of Health Sciences and 47 Faculty of Pharmacy). Based on their responses, 80% of students are satisfied with the opportunities covering almost 30 types of sports provided by the Sports and Physical Education Center. They would also like to try new, currently unavailable sports like boxing, judo, dragon boat racing, floorball, horseback riding, weightlifting, paintball, airsoft, archery and various forms of martial arts, and women’s self-defence classes.
The responses also revealed, that 74% of students of the surveyed faculties are in favour of mandatory physical education classes. They believe that the current once a week schedule could be extended to twice a week classes. The summary of the Sports and Physical Education Centre concluded that 62% of Faculty of Health Sciences students would be in favour of mandatory physical education.
The most preferred type of sports for students are sports- and ball games, followed by conditioning, weight training and dancing, aerobics and water sports. Based on the responses, sports games play the most important role due to their serious community-building power.
The responses also showed that health science students find physical activity important and live an active life – for which there are numerous opportunities at the faculties and on campus. Sports can help students overcome anxiety, improve their mood and can make them more balanced by helping them release excess energy.
Improving the mood of faculty citizens and the well-being of faculty communities is highly important for the Pécs Medical School. The Well-Being Concept is an important pillar of the faculty’s long-term strategic plan (PotePillars): it is dealing with the environment and mood of faculty citizens and students, connections within and between communities and building trust. Its goal is to make employees and students happy and satisfied, thereby strengthening the organisational immune system of the faculty.
Photo:
UP MS Sports and Physical Education Center