Perception of the Educational Environment and Its Impact on the Academic Performance of Medical School Students: a Cross-Sectional Study.

ABSTRACT

Objective: To assess the perception of medical school students on their learning environment and to evaluate the association between their academic performance and perception. Material and methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in one public and one private medical school in Delhi and Tamil Nadu states of India, respectively, among 415 medical students using systematic random sampling. Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire was used to assess the perception of the educational environment. Academic performance was analysed using the average percentage of marks scored from the recently passed final university examination scores. Results:The mean (SD) age of study participants was 21.9 (1.4) years. The mean (SD) overall score for public and private institutes was 134.5 (20.23) and 98.4 (25.14), respectively. There was no significant difference in the mean overall score between the academic year; however, there was a significant difference in students' perception of learning (SPoL), with higher scores being found among the fourth year and interns (p-value <0.001). Conclusions:The public institute had significantly higher total and subtotal scores when compared to private institutions. Evaluation of the ongoing educational program using the DREEM tool helps to identify the students' perception of the academic environment.