Lecture Class Attendance: A Study among Students in a Government Medical College in India

Background and Aim: The curriculum and medical teaching in India have been revamped by the National Medical Council in 2019. While primarily addressing the cognitive aspect of the curriculum, the lecture also has the effect of introducing available, valid study materials, whether in textbook or electronic form. It imparts a procedure to plan, prepare and comprehend study material with guidance. However, the attendance at such classes has been dwindling over the years. This study was conducted with the objective to find out the extent of absenteeism from lecture classes and factors associated with it. Materials and Methods: This study was a cross-sectional, observational type conducted between October 2024 to November 2024 among students in Phase two of a Government medical college. Pretested, valid questionnaire was extended to all students (248), data collected were entered and analysed in Jamovi software. Results: Response rate was 78%. 59.6% had attended <70% of lecture classes by self-admission with maximum preferring lab-based classes. On adjusting for all variables, it was seen that students who were oversleeping (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 3.21; confidence interval [CI] 1.56–6.66), believing teaching materials to be available on digital platform (AOR 2.57; CI 1.33–5.08) and actively subscribing to e-teaching media like online tuition, packaged education material of YouTube (AOR 2.18 CI 1.08–4.44) had a significantly greater odds of missing of classes or being absent. Conclusion: Technology is the proverbial double-edged sword but adjustments made in the curriculum to intelligently use technology may help revert students back to classes. Considerations can also be made to involve such platforms actively and uniformly keeping in mind the changing view of present-day students.