Title

Attitude towards higher education and career choices of Siddha internship students: A cross -sectional study

Authors

K. Preyadarsheni¹,*, A. Manoharan² & A. Rajarajeshwari³

Affiliation

¹Department of Pothu Maruthuvam, National Institute of Siddha, Tambaram Sanatorium, Chennai, Affiliated to The Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, Tamil Nadu, India; ²Department of Pothu Maruthuvam (General Medicine), Government Siddha Medical College, Palayamkottai, Affiliated to The Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, Tamil Nadu, India; ³Department of Research Methodology and Medical statistics, Government Siddha Medical College, Palayamkottai, Affiliated to The Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, Tamil Nadu, India; *Corresponding author

Email

K. Preyadarsheni - E-mail: preyadarshenikrishnan@gmail.com
A. Manoharan - E-mail: drmanoharan25@gmail.com
S. Rajarajeshwari - E-mail: chenthurvenkat@gmail.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received September 1, 2026; Revised September 30, 2026; Accepted September 30, 2026, Published September 30, 2026
 

Abstract

Graduation surveys are common in education but rarely used in Siddha, despite BSMS graduates being the foundational human resource of the system’s future. In this cross-sectional survey, 205 CRRI students from eight institutions (2016–2022, pre-NCISM batch) were surveyed using a validated 31-item questionnaire and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square with Cramer’s V and multinomial logistic regression. Most respondents were female (77%), 88% planned to continue in Siddha and 63% aimed for post-graduation, mainly for better institutional/clinical exposure and financial security. Students felt confident in counselling (91%) but not in Siddha diagnostic tools (17%) or radiological interpretation (12%) and their graduation plans were linked to gender, institution, expected degree, self-confidence, self-development and perceived clinical gaps. Limited opportunities, an outdated curriculum and a theory–practice gap emerged as major barriers, indicating the need for more PG seats, new specializations and curricular reform.

Keywords

Siddha medicine, career choices, higher education, graduation survey, internship, medical education, bachelor of siddha medicine and surgery (BSMS), cross-sectional study

Citation

Preyadarsheni et al. Bioinformation 22(9): 6116-6124 (2026)

Edited by

P Kangueane

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.