January 2020

Alumnus Joshua Fisher, Professor George Samoutis, and Daphne Kaitelidou are the authors of the research study Happiness and physical activity levels of first year medical students studying in Cyprus: a cross-sectional survey, BMC Medical Education, 2019 Dec 30;19(1):475

The study concluded that the level of happiness was positively correlated to the amount of vigorous physical activity in females, but not in males, within first-year medical students studying in Cyprus. Neither the level of happiness nor the total amount of exercise performed differed significantly between the genders. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report of a specific relationship between levels of happiness and physical activity among first-year medical students, and the first report of the physical activity habits and the happiness of students in Cyprus. As a practical implication, findings suggest that the inclusion of vigorous physical activity may be of particular importance when encouraging physical activity among female students as it relates to levels of happiness, as well as in the design of student wellness programs in general.  View the study here