Abstract
BACKGROUND: Medical education at the Jahrom University of Medical Sciences is associated with strong academic pressures and psychosocial stressors because of procrastination and anhedonia among medical students. It is crucial to comprehend these issues in order to implement effective strategies to enhance performance and improve medical students’ welfare. METHODS: A total of 32 medical sciences students (16 preclinical and 16 clinical: 18 female and 14 male) enrolled in medicine-related programs such as medicine, nursing science, lab sciences, or allied health disciplines participated in 32 semi-structured interviews designed to generate maximum variation sampling. The results were analyzed stepwise employing Braun and Clarke’s technique for thematic analysis to facilitate trustworthiness of the findings. RESULTS: Five themes and 11 subthemes appeared: demotivation to academics (job insecurity), content dissatisfaction (too theoretical curriculum and lack of application to reality), ineffective learning processes (inability to interact and inappropriate conduct by professors and staff members or administrators), structural difficulties (planning deficiency and poor training skills or capacities), and difficulties for students (time management and emotional pressures). CONCLUSIONS: Both procrastination and anhedonia result from interrelated personal, educational, and institutional issues. Intervention strategies designed for each context, such as interactive learning techniques, stepwise curriculum development, cost-effective peer support programs, and easy access to counseling assistance, are required for the improvement of independent student motivation and psychological well-being. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-025-08426-7.