Association of class attendance and academic performance of MBBS students in pharmacology - A retrospective cohort study

Abstract

Background: Commitment to medical education can be assessed by the interest shown by students in attending classes. Medical education demands high attendance for good understanding and grasps over the subject. Aims and Objective: The aims and obejectives of the study were to study the effect of class attendance on performance in theory and practical examination. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at Department of Pharmacology, Government Medical College, Thrissur. The second professional MBBS students who have passed Pharmacology examination were included in the study. As per sample size calculation, 40 students were taken in each group, Group I having <80% attendance and Group II having more than 80% attendance in theory at the time of first internal examination. They were followed in second and final internal examination and their attendance and marks were compared. The attendance of practical classes and the performance in final internal practical examination of these students were also compared. Statistical analysis was performed using paired and independent sample t-test, Chi-square test, and Pearson correlation analysis. Results: The higher internal marks in theory and practical examination were seen in students with high attendance percentage (P < 0.05). There was significantly high pass percentage in all the three theory internal examination and final internal practical examination in students with high attendance. There was a positive correlation between attendance and marks in all the internal theory and practical examination. Conclusion: Performance in theory and practical examinations were significantly affected by attendance in theory and practical classes.

Pharmacology and therapeutics resource session attendance and academic performance of pre-clerkship medical students in problem-based learning curricula

“…Therefore, resource session attendance appears to be one of the many critical determinants of the achievement of pharmacology learning outcomes by pre-clerkship medical students in the PBL curriculum. Our findings are in line with those of several studies conducted to assess pharmacology performance in medical schools with LBL curricula [8, 38, 39]. Among second-year medical students, high lecture attendance was found to be associated with higher examination scores [38].…”

“…An growing body of evidence supports the positive correlation between classroom attendance and improved academic performance, such as conventional wisdom, across a wide variety of courses and colleges. This finding has been reported among pre-clerkship medical students in traditional curricula [6, 34], pharmacy students [35–37], students in obstetrics/gynaecology courses [10] and students in pharmacology courses in medical school [8, 38, 39]. Evidence-based data for this correlation in the PBL curriculum is lacking.…”

Association of Class Attendance and Academic Performance of MBBS Students in Anatomy

“…To study in a medical college has a high demand to attend the classes of both theory and practical, as the curriculum is very vast and students are being exposed to many concepts for the first time. During classes of theory and practical learning occurs very significantly [5]. A lot of emphasis has been laid down by the universities and regulatory bodies on attendance policies.…”

“…Most of the universities have kept 75% as the cut off for eligibility to appear in the university exams [6]. Student attendance is an important part of professional development and it is measured as an evidence of professionalism [5].…”

“…The lecture based learning enhances the cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills despite being didactic in nature and having poor feedback. Cadaveric dissection being the most effective tool for improving students' knowledge, goes by had with theory classes for better concept building and understanding [5].…”