Abstract
BackgroundA number of first year students leave physiotherapy programmes every year. A high attrition rate has implications for the student and the academic institution. ObjectivesTo report the rate of attrition among first year physiotherapy students, and to identify contributing factor. DesignRetrospective analysis. SettingUniversity. ParticipantsElectronic student records for enrolled students 2010 to 2013. MeasuresIndependent variables; gender, age at entry, mode of admission, place of residence, ethnicity, fee status, level of education, disability, whether a student obtained a B in A level Biology, and whether a student repeated A level examinations. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the relationship between independent variables and drop-out (failure to continue to the second year). ResultsData from 338 students were included in the analysis. The percentage drop-out was 17%; 38 students (11%) failed, and 20 students (6%) withdrew voluntarily. Black and Asian students had greater odds of drop-out for any reason (Odds Ratio (OR): 6.23; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.79 to 21.63, and OR: 6.43; 95% CI: 3.03 to 13.68 respectively), and due to failure (OR: 5.50, 95% CI: 1.27 to 23.70, and OR: 7.19; 95% CI: 3.02 to 17.08, respectively) compared to white British students. Students who lived off-campus were more likely to withdraw from the programme irrespective of ethnicity (OR: 4.65; 95% CI: 1.41 to 15.34). ConclusionA significant number of students from ethnic minority backgrounds failed to progress. Specific strategies to retain students from ethnic minority backgrounds should be implemented. Students who live off-campus may be at high risk of drop-out; reasons for this should be investigated.
Highlights
Attaining a place on a pre-registration physiotherapy programme is difficult
This study reported the rate of first year attrition from five physiotherapy programmes in Australia as 11%, significantly lower than the average rate of 25% for all Australian university students [1]
The results of this study indicated that the percentage drop-out among physiotherapy students in first year was significantly higher than that reported for physiotherapy programmes in Australia [1], and for first year medical students in the UK [10]
Summary
Attaining a place on a pre-registration physiotherapy programme is difficult. Despite this, a number of students leave physiotherapy every year. Despite the potential impact of attrition on students and institutions, only one Australian study to date has reported the rate of attrition among physiotherapy students. This study reported the rate of first year attrition from five physiotherapy programmes in Australia as 11%, significantly lower than the average rate of 25% for all Australian university students [1]. These figures suggest that the rate of attrition is low among physiotherapy students, in the UK only 6% of all first degree university entrants aged under 21 fail to continue their studies beyond the first year [2]. A high attrition rate has implications for the student and the academic institution
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