The Impact of Gurukool on College Students, Residents, Faculties, and Campus life in a Medical College of New Delhi

The Impact of Gurukool on College Students, Residents, Faculties, and Campus life in a Medical College of New Delhi

Sulakshna Aggarwal
Gurukool MAMC, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India

Introduction: Studies on goal oriented interventions by campus organizations showed variable results on their effect on the environment and behaviour among college students. Gurukool is a similar student led initiative with a vision towards holistic development of the students and making the campus a better place. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of Gurukool on college students, residents, faculties , and campus life.

Methodology: It was a questionnaire based cross sectional study conducted among students, residents &faculty of Maulana Azad medical College, New Delhi. The questionnaire asked for general demographic, their role in Gurukool, and average time devoted for Gurukool activities in a week. The impact of Gurukool was assessed via self assessment on improvement in personality domains (organizational skills, leadership skills, communication skills, responsibility towards community, interpersonal relationships, ability to tackle stress, and academic performance) since the inception. It assessed the impact of Gurukool on parameters like strengthening the relationships, making campus life more enjoyable, and creating a positive change in the environment. The data was cleaned and analyzed using Microsoft excel.

Results: 64 participants participated in the study which consisted of 23.4% core members, 32.8% volunteers, and 43.75% attendees. On an average, in a week, 29.7% participants devoted five to ten hours, 50% participants devoted less than 5 hours, while 20.3% participants did not devote their time to Gurukool activities. Participants with more time devotion in Gurukool showed significantly more improvement over less time devotees in the domains of communication skills (p<0.001), responsibility towards community (p<0.001), organizational skills (p<0.001), leadership skills (p<0.001), and improvement in ability to tackle stress (p=0.02). Core members showed a significant improvement over volunteers and attendees in communication skills (p=0.02), responsibility towards community (p=0.02), organizational skills (p<0.001)), leadership skills (p=0.01). Majority agree that Gurukool has made the campus life more enjoyable (78.1%) and created a positive change in the environment (82.8%).

Discussion- As evidenced by several studies, interventions through campus organizations plays a significant role in introducing students to new arenas to explore and making the campus life more enjoyable and a better place to live.

Keywords: Gurukool , Personality traits, campus life, skills, organization