The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) declares exercise to be one of the most important activities one can do to improve health. The benefits of exercise are well documented and include both physiologic and psychological health. Given the current landscape of wellness issues in veterinary medical education, it is necessary that students engage in exercise activities to manage stress and increase overall health. Therefore, to develop targeted interventions with the greatest likelihood for success, it is first necessary to understand what motivates veterinary medical students to exercise given their unique situational and environmental factors. This study is the first to explore this issue systematically in veterinary medical education, thus it is the authors' hope that the findings from this research will help identify exercise-related wellness interventions that could be implemented in veterinary medical schools.
Keywords: academic affairs; curriculum; environment; outcomes; psychology; public health; student affairs; student health and well-being.