A comparison between wellness awareness among medical students

Objectives: to assess and compare the dimensions of spiritual wellness as elements of quality care in medical students of private and public medical universities. methods: the cross-sectional study was carried out at private and public medical universities in karachi from november 2013 to january 2015.students from both genders and all ethnic groups19-23 years of age were included. the responses of spiritual wellness were obtained and evaluated on a four-point likert's scale; score ranging from 0-3. data was analysed using predictive analysis software version 18. results: out of 736 students,286 (38.9%) were from public medical universities and 450 (61.1%) were from private- sector institutions. students of both types of universities were aware of the concept of spiritual wellness but the level of awareness needed scaling up. public-sector students had a stronger will,were more physically and mentally alert,more compassionate,empathetic and enthusiastic about their relationship with patients than their private- sector counterparts (p<0.05). they used spiritual wellness as a coping strategy to deal with difficult situations through religious activities. though attentive listening was a predominant feature in both groups,the use of communication skills required particular attention to improve the element of compassionate care. conclusion: empowerment of spiritual wellness is more likely to enable medical students to be more compassionate towards their patients and strengthen doctor-patient relationship. © 2017,pakistan medical association. all rights reserved.