ABSTRACT
There are several dimensions of academic burnout experienced by medical and health science college students. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of academic relationships on academic burnout. Data was collected from 476 Eulji University students using an online survey over 4 days in April of 2018. Of the 264 respondents, 111 studied medicine (42.0%), 105 studied nursing (39.8%), and 48 studied clinical pathology (18.1%). The questionnaire was composed of the following sections: demographics (four questions), general life characteristics (seven questions), academic enthusiasm (eight questions), academic relationships (15 questions), and academic burnout sub-dimensions (partially revised Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey Scale) (11 questions). T-tests and one-way analysis of variance were performed to illustrate the differences among the three departments. The effects of academic relationships and academic enthusiasm on academic burnout were analyzed using linear regression. Comparing the three departments, academic burnout was not found to be statistically significant (p=0.296). However, medical students' academic enthusiasm was significantly lower (p<0.001) and academic relationships were significantly higher (p<0.001) than nursing and clinical pathology students. The difference in academic burnout among the three departments was not significant. However, medical students have stronger academic relationships, while nursing and clinical pathology students were more focused on academics. Relationships and academic enthusiasm contribute to reducing academic burnout. Therefore, strategies need to be developed to deal with academic burnout considering relationship factors.