Volunteering in medical education

the experience in formação social e humana

Abstract

Volunteering has become more and more important nowadays, not only for the people in need but also to the ones that practice it. Undoubtedly, volunteers have become more able to observe social problems and to promote the empathic establishment of human relationships. These competences must also be cross-cutting in medicine, wherefore, in this study, we analyse the experience of volunteering in the curricular unit of Formação Social e Humana, that integrates the academic path of the medical students from Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto. The effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on learning was also evaluated. To this end, a cross sectional study was performed involving the students that attended the curricular unit in the academic years from 2017/2018 to 2022/2023, that filled a survey with questions regarding their volunteering experience. 110 submissions were obtained, however 15 responses were excluded for not meeting the inclusion criteria. From the sample (n = 95), 16 (16,8%) integrated the Covid group and 79 (83,2%) the non-Covid group. After the volunteering, the volunteers revealed to be significantly more sympathetic (p < 0,001), communicative (p < 0,001), capable of adaptation (p < 0,001), patients (p < 0,001), empathetic (p = 0,001), aware (p = 0,001), capable of organization (p = 0,001), capable of listening (p = 0,001), capable of group working (p = 0,006), capable of cooperating with others (p = 0,011) and understanding (p = 0,025). The Covid group liked the curricular unit more (p = 0,017) and had more intention of recommending it to their colleagues (p = 0,053) when compared to the non-Covid group, with no other differences observed. In the open answers, students mentioned the desire to volunteer with closer contact with the target audience or to try other target audiences as well as cue the possibility to consider the curricular unit as mandatory. In conclusion, volunteering through the curricular unit Formação Social e Humana, in addition to allowing the development of transversal skills, add extra values that are pivotal for the medical student, as an agent of society and as a future healthcare professional. The experience seemed to be positive and shows that the curricular unit at study is a key factor in the academic curriculum at Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto.