Investigating the risk factors for academic difficulties in the medical programme at a South African university

Background The National Benchmark Test (NBT) that determines academic readiness is widely used by Faculties as an additional measure to select students for the study of medicine. Despite this, many students continue to experience academic challenges that culminate in delayed graduation and sometimes academic exclusion or discontinuation of studies. Aim This study aimed to understand academic and non-academic variables linked with academic difficulties in the first three years of medical education. Methods The study sample consisted of six cohorts of medical students for the period 2011 to 2016 (n = 1392). Only the first three of the six-year medical programme were selected for analysis. Survival analysis and Cox Proportional Hazard (CPH) was used to identify academic and non-academic variables associated with academic difficulties. Results A total of 475 students (34%) experienced academic difficulty; 221 (16%) in the first year of study, 192 (14%) in the second year and 62 (5%) in the third year of study. The results show that Intermediate Upper, Lower and Basic levels for all NBT domains, living in university residence, rurality and male gender were risk factors for academic difficulty. Conclusion In mitigating these factors, the NBT must inform the type of support programmes to augment the students' skills and promote academic success. Additionally, existing support programmes should be evaluated to ascertain if they reach students at risk and whether participating in these programmes yield positive academic outcomes.