The pattern of time management in college students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences in the year 2006

One potential coping strategy frequently offered by university counseling services is time management for studying. Besides stress relief, time management skills will positively influence key outcomes such as academic performance, problem-solving ability, and health. Thus, it is necessary to investigate how college students manage their timing for studying. The aim of the present study was to assess the pattern of college student's time management in Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 students who were selected by stratified random sampling method among students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences. Information about how students managed their study time during their educational course was collected using a questionnaire which consisted time management stages such as planning, prioritizing, time allocation, listing all study-related tasks and goal setting. Study time management was measured according to Likert scale in range of “never” to “always”. There was a significant difference between the course of study and the mean of study duration (p<0.004). Mean scores of the study time management showed that the medical students (mean=67.5 ±12.87) had the highest scores and the bachelor students (mean= 61.1±15.1) had the lowest scores, but the ANOVA test did not show any significant difference between the mean scores of study time management and the course of study (p=0.07). The majority of students (186 persons=62%) “occasionally” and only 48 persons (16%) “always” were managing their study time. A total of 26.2% of medical students always managed their study time, and in this criterion they had the highest scores in comparison with others. There was no significant difference between the course of study and the pattern of study management (p<0.05). Most of the students of medical sciences have no scheduled programming for their study time management. So it is necessary to teach time management programming to the college students to internalize the necessity of time management attitudes and behavior.