Abstract

LOPEZ GUTIERREZ, Indira; MARIN FONTELA, Grettel  and  GARCIA RODRIGUEZ, Miguel Emilio. Dropping out of school in the first year of the medical studies. Educ Med Super [online]. 2012, vol.26, n.1, pp. 45-52. ISSN 0864-2141.

A qualitative descriptive study was conducted in the field of undergraduate medical education. Objective: to characterize the dropping out of school in the first year of the new program for medical formation in the 2007-2009 period in Nuevitas, Camaguey province. Methods: empirical, statistical and theoretical methods were used to study 18 students who left their studies in that period of time. The data was collected from a survey administered to the students and from a semi-structured interview to the managing staff in the field of education in Nuevitas municipality, which was the key informant. Absolute numbers as well as percentages served to summarize the information which was illustrated in tables. Results: high percentage of students dropping out of school 40.9 %), previous preparation of students was rated as inadequate in 41.4 % and the most difficult subject was Morphophysiology in 94.4 % of cases. Fifty percent of the students who dropped out of school was not really motivated to study medicine whereas 55.5 % faced learning problems that forced them to leave the medical school. Conclusions: dropping out of the university polyclinics in the first year of medical studies were high. The previous academic preparation of students was considered inadequate in almost half of the sample. Morphophysiology was the most difficult subject in terms of learning. It was evinced that dropping out of school is a multiple cause phenomenon, being the learning difficulties and the lack of motivation the main ones.

Keywords : dropping out of school.

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