Procrastination in medical students: a systematic review

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Psychology

Background:

• Procrastination significantly impacts medical students' lives and well-being.
• Understanding its conceptualization and associated variables is crucial for developing interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the conceptualization of procrastination in medical education literature.
• To identify contexts and associated variables of medical student procrastination.
• To propose solutions for reducing procrastination tendencies.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review following PRISMA and AMEE guidelines.
• Searched PubMed, ERIC, and PsycINFO databases.
• Screened 243 articles, analyzing 26 for the review.

Main Results:

• Procrastination is conceptualized as voluntary task delay.
• Contexts include academic and bedtime procrastination.
• Negatively associated with academic achievement, metacognition, self-esteem; positively with stress, anxiety, mobile phone addiction.

Conclusions:

• Medical student procrastination involves intentional postponement with expected negative consequences, often studied in academic and mental health contexts.
• Future research should enhance student awareness of procrastination and emotional states.
• Targeted, goal-oriented interventions are recommended.