RESUMO
Objectives: To estimate the attrition rate and identify common characteristics of medical students who withdrew from an undergraduate medical programme. Methods: This study retrospectively analysed records of students who withdrew from medical programme among 10 student cohorts between 2002 and 2007 in the pre-clinical phase at the International Medical University (IMU), Malaysia. Data on student gender, pre-university entry, banding and English qualification (Malaysian University English Test [MUET] or International English Language Testing System [IELTS]) were studied and compared with all students entering the university during the same study period. Results: Among the 10 student cohorts between 2002 and 2007, a total of 112 out of 1,890 students withdrew from medical programme with more male than female students. Attrition was more common among students with Australian University Foundation, Canadian Pre-University and Ministry of Education Malaysia pre-university entry qualifications. Students with ‘high’ academic banding of entry qualifications and poor English qualification grades exhibited higher rates of attrition. Conclusion: The attrition rate among medical students in IMU between 2002 and 2007 was 5.9%. IMU needs to review the minimum academic criteria for admission into the medical programme in order to reduce the attrition rate. It is suggested to select students of ‘lower banding’ with better English grades while reducing the intake among students from ‘higher banding’ and lower English grades.