The Association between Spiritual Health and Academic Achievement in Medical Students of Qom University of Medical Sciences, 2011

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Spiritual health of a society's population, especially influential and productive people, plays an important role in the development and promotion of the society. Considering the prominent and unique role of students as future managers and creators of a society, provision of spiritual health as well as identification and removal of negative factors affecting their spiritual health are necessary. This study was conducted to determine the association between spiritual health and academic achievement of medical students of Qom University of Medical Sciences in 2011.Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on all students studying in Qom University of Medical Sciences (except the first semester of study) through census method. The instruments used were a two part questionnaire included personal characteristics and academic grade point average as well as Spiritual Well-being Scale (SWBS). Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics at significance (p0.05). In addition, a statistically significant relation was observed between spiritual health and academic grade point average (p=0.02).Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, the majority of students had desirable spiritual health. Thus, it could be stated that spiritual health might leads to academic achievement, through motivation. Therefore, it is recommended that to improve students' academic performance, appropriate planning should be done for promotion of their spiritual health.

Keywords

• Spirituality
• Spiritual Health
• Educational Status
• Students
• Medical