{"title":"High- and low-achieving international medical students' perceptions of the factors influencing their academic performance at Chinese universities.","authors":"Qinxu Jiang, Hugo Horta, Mantak Yuen","doi":"10.1080/10872981.2023.2300194","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>China has become an attractive destination for international medical students, particularly those from developing countries in Asia and Africa. These students are known to face difficulties in adapting to Chinese medical universities and they tend to score poorly on subsequent examinations to enter the medical profession in their home or in a third country. To date, limited research concerning the factors that affect the academic performance of this group of students in China has been conducted. In particular, there have been very few comparisons between high and low achievers to identify the factors that high- and low-achieving international medical students in all years of study perceive as affecting their academic performance. A qualitative research approach was implemented at two medical universities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 high achievers and 22 low achievers in their second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and post-graduation years. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded using a thematic analysis approach.A few key overlapping factors were identified: social support, learning motivation and interest, exam preparation and strategies, time management, and coping. The high achievers manipulated these strategies successfully while the low achievers did not. The high achievers demonstrated efficient learning methods (efficient use of class time, good note-taking habits, preview and review strategies, expanded learning, self-study and group learning, deep learning, choosing an appropriate study location, and focusing on basics and concepts). They also achieved a good balance between studying and leisure. The low achievers mentioned learning challenges, health issues, English language barriers, and problems with online classes. This study allowed us to identify important factors that international medical students at Chinese institutions perceive to influence their performance. The findings contribute to the literature on the topic and provide a solid basis for practice and policy development.</p>","PeriodicalId":47656,"journal":{"name":"Medical Education Online","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10769138/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Medical Education Online","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10872981.2023.2300194","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/1/3 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
China has become an attractive destination for international medical students, particularly those from developing countries in Asia and Africa. These students are known to face difficulties in adapting to Chinese medical universities and they tend to score poorly on subsequent examinations to enter the medical profession in their home or in a third country. To date, limited research concerning the factors that affect the academic performance of this group of students in China has been conducted. In particular, there have been very few comparisons between high and low achievers to identify the factors that high- and low-achieving international medical students in all years of study perceive as affecting their academic performance. A qualitative research approach was implemented at two medical universities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 high achievers and 22 low achievers in their second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and post-graduation years. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded using a thematic analysis approach.A few key overlapping factors were identified: social support, learning motivation and interest, exam preparation and strategies, time management, and coping. The high achievers manipulated these strategies successfully while the low achievers did not. The high achievers demonstrated efficient learning methods (efficient use of class time, good note-taking habits, preview and review strategies, expanded learning, self-study and group learning, deep learning, choosing an appropriate study location, and focusing on basics and concepts). They also achieved a good balance between studying and leisure. The low achievers mentioned learning challenges, health issues, English language barriers, and problems with online classes. This study allowed us to identify important factors that international medical students at Chinese institutions perceive to influence their performance. The findings contribute to the literature on the topic and provide a solid basis for practice and policy development.
期刊介绍:
Medical Education Online is an open access journal of health care education, publishing peer-reviewed research, perspectives, reviews, and early documentation of new ideas and trends.
Medical Education Online aims to disseminate information on the education and training of physicians and other health care professionals. Manuscripts may address any aspect of health care education and training, including, but not limited to:
-Basic science education
-Clinical science education
-Residency education
-Learning theory
-Problem-based learning (PBL)
-Curriculum development
-Research design and statistics
-Measurement and evaluation
-Faculty development
-Informatics/web