Medical students face unique challenges in their rigorous academic pursuits, often contending with elevated levels of stress and a noticeable decline in their engagement with personal interests and social activities.1 However, embracing hobbies can serve as a potent measure to the pervasive issues of burnout, stress and mental health that exist in this high-stakes field.

Despite the well-established benefits of hobbies across various demographics, their impact on the lives of medical students remains an area of relative neglect in scientific inquiry. Recognizing the leisure pursuits of future healthcare practitioners is useful not only to safeguard their mental health and well-being, but also to foster a more comprehensive and balanced approach to medical education.2 By delving into the hobbies of medical students, we can gain insight into their motivations for choosing a career in medicine over alternative paths.

We did a questionnaire-based study of the hobbies of medical students, as well as their motivation for choosing medicine over alternative pursuits. We aimed to assess the importance of promoting a balanced lifestyle for students in this demanding field.

A validated questionnaire was designed that included multiple modes of questioning, such as yes/no questions, Likert scale-type questions, and checkbox questions. It was circulated among the WhatsApp groups of undergraduate students from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states of India, from July to September 2023. The results were collected in Google Forms and analysed.

Informed consent was taken from all the study participants. Confidentiality of the participants’ information was maintained. Institutional Ethics Committee of the Konaseema Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Foundation approved the study.

Of the 140 responses received, 75 (54%) were from females, 63 (45.3%) from males and 2 (0.3%) preferred not to reveal their gender. One hundred and twenty-seven (92.7%) students reported having an alternate hobby that did not involve medicine. Eighty-five (65.4%) students spent 1–3 hours a week on their hobby, 25 (19.2%) spent 5–7 hours and 10 (7.7%) spent more than 10 hours a week on their hobbies.

Eighty-five students (65.4%) reported feeling extremely relieved, and 43 (32.3%) students reported feeling a little relieved from stress when engaging in these activities. Twenty-nine (20.7%) students reported having very often thought of pursuing their hobby as an alternative career, and 60 (42.9%) students reported having such thoughts at times.

When asked what stopped them from pursuing an alternative career, 59 (29.6%) admitted that their hobby was not more than just a hobby. Thirty-seven (18.9%) admitted that they were more oriented towards medicine, 33 (16.58%) students considered the lower possibility of success in alternative careers.

When asked about the presence of recreational clubs within their institution, 90 (64.2%) responded that there were no recreational clubs at all, 36 (26.1%) said that their institution offers a limited number of recreational clubs, while 14 (9.7%) stated that their institute provides recreational clubs catering to multiple interests.

In the demanding routine of a medical student’s daily life, there is a tendency to overlook one’s mental well-being and the potential repercussions that may ensue.

Medical students are expected to maintain high academic standards, have effective communication skills, conduct themselves professionally, and foster meaningful professional relationships with colleagues. Achieving these can be a daunting task. Pursuing hobbies and cultivating alternative interests can be invaluable tools to help them.

Pressman et al. showed that higher PEAT (Pittsburgh Enjoyable Activities) scores, which gauge an individual’s engagement in leisure activities, are positively correlated with improved psychosocial well-being and reduced instances of depression.3

Kaimal et al. observed that students had lower levels of cortisol after an art-making session, indicating a reduction in stress levels following an artistic pursuit.4

In our study, 92.7% of students reported having an alternate passion or hobby that did not involve medicine, and 97.7% of students agreed that their hobbies help relieve stress. These hobbies included painting, dancing, singing, photography, cooking and sports.

Almost two-third of students had thoughts of pursuing their alternate passion or hobby as a career. This could be due to the decreased time they could spend on an enjoyable leisure activity or their increasing stress due to their workload. Kelly et al., suggest that the sustainability of a person’s career is linked to their non-serious leisure activities. With an average non-serious leisure activity, a person can sustain a career longer, whereas when the leisure activity is considered serious, it might lead to decreased career sustainability.5 When a student does not have proper time to spend on their hobby, it might lead them to plan taking serious time-outs for that activity, which, in turn, affects their career sustainability.

The medical profession requires extensive training. Demanding and tough examinations, hectic schedules and the vast syllabus are unavoidable. A possible solution would be to find ways to alleviate the stress on students by encouraging them to engage in their hobbies. This can be achieved by having recreational clubs and activities within the institution. Nearly two-thirds of the study population reported having no recreational clubs or activities at their institutions at the time of the study. Our study was conducted exclusively among MBBS students in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which limited the participants and study population.

There are few studies that discuss hobbies and stress among medical students. Mandatory instructions should be provided to institutions to help students manage and alleviate their stress, while also assisting them in activities that do not necessarily involve medicine.