ArticleBMC medical education2022
Investigating the risk factors for academic difficulties in the medical programme at a South African university.
Article in BMC medical education, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Using Virtual Reality to Assist Students at Academic Risk in Human Anatomy.Medical science educator · 2025Article
- Influence of admission categories, programme, race and residence status on MBBCh and BHSc student performance: Academic performance of 2021 students in physiology module.Health SA = SA Gesondheid · 2025Article
- Life skills programmes for university-based wellness support services for students in health sciences professions: a scoping review.BMC medical education · 2024Article
- Magnitude of academic performance and its associated factors among health science students at Eastern Ethiopia University's 2022.BMC medical education · 2024Article
- Selection tests and their predictive value in university nursing students' success in the first year of study.BMC medical education · 2023Article
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Abstract
backgroundThe National Benchmark Test (NBT) that determines academic readiness is widely used by Faculties as an additional measure to select students for the study of medicine. Despite this, many students continue to experience academic challenges that culminate in delayed graduation and sometimes academic exclusion or discontinuation of studies.
aimThis study aimed to understand academic and non-academic variables linked with academic difficulties in the first three years of medical education.
methodsThe study sample consisted of six cohorts of medical students for the period 2011 to 2016 (n = 1392). Only the first three of the six-year medical programme were selected for analysis. Survival analysis and Cox Proportional Hazard (CPH) was used to identify academic and non-academic variables associated with academic difficulties.
resultsA total of 475 students (34%) experienced academic difficulty; 221 (16%) in the first year of study, 192 (14%) in the second year and 62 (5%) in the third year of study. The results show that Intermediate Upper, Lower and Basic levels for all NBT domains, living in university residence, rurality and male gender were risk factors for academic difficulty.
conclusionIn mitigating these factors, the NBT must inform the type of support programmes to augment the students' skills and promote academic success. Additionally, existing support programmes should be evaluated to ascertain if they reach students at risk and whether participating in these programmes yield positive academic outcomes.
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