Impact of counselling on the attendance and academic performance of second year medical students in the subject Pharmacology

Background: Absenteeism is becoming a major problem among medical students which has become a focus of concern nationally and globally.Methods: Students are assessed at the beginning of the counselling. The academic performance and attendance rates of students are recorded and tabulated systematically. The data was evaluated for the group of students having low academic performance and attendance over the study period. Statistics applied to determine significant impact of counselling on attendance and academic performance of students over the study period.Results: Study showed positive and significant impact of counselling on attendance and academic performance of the students. The study also revealed positive correlation between attendance and academic performance.Conclusions: The significant impact of counselling was found on student attendance and academic performance. The counselling sessions also proved to improve the student teacher relationship in terms of better two-way communication and also helped in receiving feedback on implementation of new ways of teaching.