Enhancing awareness of yoga in health professions education students through a single interactive session: A pretest-post test study

Aim and objective: All students enrolled in Health Professions Education (HPE) at Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Pondicherry, receive introductory yoga sessions during orientation programs conducted by their respective medical, dental and nursing colleges at the beginning of their first year of training. We conducted a pre-test-post-test study to evaluate initial yoga awareness amongst HPE students (pre-test) and to assess the changes after a single interactive session of yoga theory and practice (post-test). Material and Methods: 367 HPE students (196 F, 171 M) were divided into seven batches for participation in yoga sessions at the Centre for Yoga Therapy Education and Research (CYTER). The identical, validated Yoga Awareness Questionnaire (YAQ) was given to them before and after the sessions to evaluate the changes in understanding / knowledge about yoga and yoga therapy. Results: Post-test scores increased significantly (p < 0.001) over both pre-test scores. The differences were significant for all batches of the medical, dental and nursing students analysed separately, as well as for the overall comparisons of HPE students. Conclusion: Even a single interactive session of yoga theory and practice can result in significant improvements in the awareness and knowledge about yoga and yoga therapy, thus setting the stage for future short and long term studies on the benefits for such students.