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Professional Commitment of 8-Year Medical Doctoral Degree Program Students in China: The Mediating Role of
Yao Lu1,2, Kuang Tong1, Mingang Wen3
1Office of Academic Affairs, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
Background:
Studying the professional commitment of a student in an 8-year medical training program of China, especially its association with academic performance, can enhance the understanding of professional loyalty in future doctors. This study aimed to investigate the self-efficacy, academic performance, professional commitment, and learning engagement of 8-year program medical students, and explore the mediating roles of professional commitment and learning engagement on the associations between self-efficacy and academic performance.
Methods:
We conducted a cross-sectional study in a Chinese medical university and collected the General Self-Efficacy Scale, Professional Commitment of Undergraduates Scales, and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-Student from self-reported students. Academic performance was ascertained using course examination scores in the most recent year. We conducted a structural equation model (SEM) analysis to examine the mediating roles of professional commitment and learning engagement on the relationship between self-efficacy and academic performance.
Results:
A total number of 402 medical students were included in this study. Students in the clinical practice stage had significantly lower professional commitment and learning engagement than students in the pre-medical and medical course stages. The professional commitment of students from low-income families was significantly lower than that of students from high-income families. Professional commitment and learning engagement were mediators in the relationship between self-efficacy and academic performance.
Conclusions:
This study is the first to investigate professional commitment among students in the China 8-year medical program. Professional commitment plays an intermediary role between self-efficacy and academic performance.
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