An Analysis of Volunteering Benefits and Obstacles among Health Sector Students during COVID-19 Vaccination in Al-Ahsa, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Volunteering is highly beneficial for health sector students to open up new opportunities, to develop their skills, and to gain new ones. In response to the human nature to the call of helping others and the community during COVID-19 pandemic, not a few numbers of health sector students were volunteering in COVID-19 vaccination centers for many purposes. Our research aimed to identify the obstacles hindering health sector students from volunteering and the motivating factors behind their engagement in health volunteering programs to support the vaccination centers in AlAhsa. An online survey was used to collect the participants’ data including two sections. The first section includes demographic details and information about the participants. The second part of the survey analyzed the benefits and the obstacles they face. According to a sample of 385, majority of students strongly agreed that they volunteered to gain and improve practical skills, have a new experience, help others, and develop their personal skills. In general, university commitments are considered as a major obstacle for student volunteers. In conclusion, volunteering has many benefits as reported by the participants. improving practical skills was the main benefit that students were looking for during volunteering. Some volunteers come forward simply for fun and others to fill their free time. The primary obstacle they cited was university commitments. Several volunteers cited the distance between the volunteer center and the house as an obstacle, coupled with the long hours they spent in volunteering. Providing more volunteering opportunities during vacation is recommended to encourage more students to volunteer.