title: Why do students participate in medical education?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Medical student involvement in curriculum development is important; however, little is known about why medical students become engaged in this activity. The aim of this study was to understand what motivates medical students at one university to participate in the process of curriculum development and gain a wider perspective on student engagement in medical education.
  
  
  METHODS
  Grounded theory methodology was the foundation of this study. We conducted semi-structured interviews with seven medical students from the University of Tokyo who developed and participated in a group whose aim was to actively contribute towards improving their medical education. The data from the interviews were analysed by thematic synthesis, with triangulation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three themes emerged as potential explanations for motivating student behaviour: (1) extracurricular interaction with faculty members; (2) engaging with highly motivated peers; and (3) student values for serving the public.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Students working to improve educational processes at their medical schools had the opportunity to communicate more with faculty members, enjoyed opportunities for networking with other highly motivated peers and enhanced aspects of their developing professionalism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Suwa Central Hospital, Nagano, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirohisa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujikawa
authors.forename: Jeffery
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kurihara
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kitamura
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishigori
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D003256:Community Participation / Q000523:psychology*; D003479:Curriculum / Q000592:standards*; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009042:Motivation; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*