Abstract

FERNANDEZ-ALVAREZ, Adriana  and  GARAU, Mariela. Academic performance at the end of the career in medical students during a curriculum change in Uruguay: on time and delayed graduation and scholarships. Anfamed [online]. 2022, vol.9, n.1, e203.  Epub June 01, 2022. ISSN 2301-1254.  https://doi.org/10.25184/anfamed2022v9n1a8.

Abstract: At the Universidad de la República, Uruguay, the medical career duration was reduced as a consequence of a curriculum renovation. Students who attended the novice and the prior curriculum synchronously took a pre-practice contest in 2015, graduating simultaneously. This work investigated the potential derivations of taking the previous or the new curriculum and to obtain inputs for the evaluation of the current curriculum and student support scholarship programs in order to project improvement strategies. A quantitative retrospective study was carried out analyzing student performance, retention and delayed graduation in relation to the curriculum taken, sociodemographic attributes and the use of scholarships. Regardless of the curriculum, those with a delayed graduation showed lower results than those who graduated in time. Delayed graduation was associated with the sociodemographic profile. A 23.7% of the graduates used a scholarship at some point in their career. The scholarship recipients presented lower parental educational levels and came in a greater proportion from the interior of the country than the total number of graduates. It was concluded that: a) dropout and academic delay occur at both curriculums; b) obtaining a degree with a delay is associated with worse performance in the final career stages, being linked to the sociodemographic profile and not to taking one study plan or another and c) institutional scholarship policies partially solve baseline inequities, favoring retention and graduation.

Keywords : Academic performance; curriculum; university dropout; delayed graduation; scholarships.

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