[Association between self-directed learning behaviors, socio-demographic and academic variables among medical...

Medical education must encourage autonomous learning behaviors among students. However the great income profile disparity among university students may influence their capacity to acquire such skills.

To assess the association between self-directed learning, socio-demographic and academic variables.

The self-directed learning readiness scale was applied to 202 medical students aged between 17 and 25 years (64% males). Simultaneously information about each surveyed participant was obtained from the databases of the medical school.

There is an association between socio-demographic and academic variables with the general scale of self-directed learning and the subscales learning planning and willingness to learn. Participants coming from municipal schools have a greater willingness to learn than their counterparts coming from subsidized and private schools. High school grades are related to self-directed learning and the subscales learning planning and self-assessment.

Among the surveyed medical students, there is a relationship between self-directed learning behaviors, the type of school where they come from and the grades that they obtained during high school.