Iranian Journal of Medical Education

Introduction: Burnout is a negative state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion, accompanied by a deep sense of work failure. Therefore, it is necessary to identify factors influencing it. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the quality of learning experience and academic burnout and achievement among students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive and correlational research. The population included all students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 2014 from among 303 were selected randomly as the sample. Data collection tools were quality of learning experience and academic burnout questionnaires and the students’ GPA. A one-way ANOVA, independent samples t-test, post hoc test (Bonferroni and Dunnett) and Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients tests were used to analyze the data.

Results: Mean scores of quality of learning experience and academic burnout were 32.82±6.78 (out of 60) and 43.90±7.57 (out of 75), respectively. The GPA of the sample was 16.37±1.47. A significant difference was found between the quality of learning experience scores and academic failure dimension of academic burnout (P<0.05, r=-0.23); however, it was not significantly correlated with academic achievement (P=0.83, r=0.012).

Conclusion: The findings indicated the necessity to improve learning conditions in universities so that students can have higher level learning experiences. Moreover, it is suggested that academic burnout, especially the self-efficacy dimension which was correlated with learning experience, be reduced.