A study to assess factors affecting the performance of undergraduate medical students in academic examination in community medicine

Abstract

Background: Undergraduate medical education is facing many basic problems in India today. This study aimed to identify and analyze factors that affect the students’ academic performance in Community Medicine. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted at the Department of Community Medicine, VCSGGMS & RI, Uttarakhand, India among the third and sixth semester medical students from February to July 2016. The questionnaire was used to interview 182 students. The questionnaire covered demographic factors, physical fitness in terms of refractive error, use of technology in the form of smart phones and internet, stress level in the form of sleeping hours before examination, pattern of meals before examination and material used for study and others. The student was scaled based on an achievement marks percentile. Results: The research population included 182 students (85 male and 97 female). The mean age of the studied students was 21.62 ± 1.61 years. About 48.9% of the students were using spectacles. Over 90% of the students reported using smart phones, computer, and access to the internet. The mean hours of sleep day before the examination were 5.14± 1.94 hours. About three fourth of the students, reported consuming meals before the examination. Demographic factors, i.e. age and gender were significantly associated with students’ overall academic achievement in multiple linear regression analysis (p<0.05). Conclusions: Various factors determine the academic performance of students. To understand better about the factors that contribute in the academic performance of students there is need for a qualitative study.

<p>Facility-Related Factors Affecting Academic Performance of Medical Students in Human Anatomy</p>

“…Medical student's academic performance plays an important role in producing the best quality graduates who will become great practitioners and workforces responsible for the country's health development. 1,2 Academic achievement is one of the major issues considered by employers in hiring workers specifically for medical students. 3,4 Medical students have to put the greatest effort into their human anatomy course study to obtain good grades and to prepare themselves for future opportunity in their career at the same time to fulfill the countries health sector demand.…”

Learning styles of first year medical students of the National University of Asunción, Paraguay

“…(Asunción) / Vol. 51 - Nº 2, 2018 http://dx.doi.org /10.18004/anales/2018.051(02) [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] Autor correspondiente: Prof. Dr. Julio Torales, Jefe de Departamento de la Dirección de Investigaciones. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Asunción.…”

“…Se observó que no existió relación entre los diferentes estilos de aprendizaje y el promedio general de calificaciones de la educación secundaria (p=0,484), lo que está en línea con investigaciones realizadas en la Universidad de la Reina de Belfast -Reino Unido (33) y la Escuela de Medicina Manilpal -Nepal (34). Esto podría entenderse teniendo en cuenta que el rendimiento académico es una variable que no solamente se ve influenciada por el estilo de aprendizaje preferente del estudiante de Medicina, sino que por el contrario es afectado por múltiples variables educativas, personales y de la vida diaria (35,36).…”