Document is current

Article History

Received: 9 June 2025

Accepted: 4 May 2026

First Online: 14 May 2026

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: Participation in this study was voluntary, and participants’ identities were protected; there were no questions mentioning their names or Emails. This study was approved by the Ethical Committee in the Faculty of Medicine at Damascus University and the Biomedical Research Ethics Committee (BMREC) at Damascus University, Syria, and was assigned a serial number (MD-140824-285, 2024/08/14). This study complied with the principles of the Helsinki Declaration.

: Informed consent was obtained from all participants, whether through electronic or paper-based questionnaires. The electronic survey commenced with the following statement: “ We are conducting a cross-sectional study to assess volunteer activities among medical students in Syria, aiming to understand the current state of volunteering, its impact on participants, and the factors influencing it. This research is of significant importance in understanding students better and creating a suitable environment in which to harness their potential. Participants will be asked to complete this questionnaire with general information about themselves and their various volunteer activities, if any, without requesting their name, phone number, or email address. Moreover, all provided information will be treated with complete confidentiality”.

: Yes, I agree to participate. No, I do not agree to participate. In the electronic version, the progression of the survey was contingent upon the participant’s response. Those who selected “Yes, I agree to participate” proceeded to the subsequent sections, which addressed socio-demographic information, patterns of involvement in volunteer activities, and perspectives on the benefits of volunteering. Conversely, individuals who selected “No, I do not agree to participate” were immediately redirected to the end of the survey without any data being recorded. For the paper-based questionnaires, informed consent was obtained verbally after providing a comprehensive explanation of the study’s objectives, consistent with the electronic consent text.