Medical students' endeavour to make use of their mental capabilities.

OBJECTIVE To identify and compare awareness of intellectual wellness in male and female medical students of Karachi. METHODS The cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey comprised randomly selected 800 medical students of both gender. It was conducted from January to December 2010 in 8 medical colleges of Karachi. Responses--never, sometimes, mostly and always (numbered 0-4)--were analysed in terms of frequency, proportion and percentages by Predictive Analysis Software version 18. Chi square test was applied for comparison of intellectual wellness in both genders. Results were considered significant at p < 0.05. RESULTS Of the 800 questionnaires distributed, 736 (92%) were received fully completed; 526 (71.5% of them from females. Intellectual wellness was significantly higher in females due to an increasing aptitude towards book reading (p < 0.0001), selection of movies (p < 0.03) and analytical thinking (p < 0.002). Male students derived help from mentors (p < 0.03) CONCLUSION: Females were found to be better in terms of intellectual wellness compared to the males. However, males used mentorship support to acquire intellectual wellness.