[01] Nisha Muruganantham, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [02] Fathimath Shara Shareef, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [03] Arvind Raj A/L Rajendra, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [04] Ng Swee Ching, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [05] Lim Li Ze, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia.

Background: Academic performance is the measurement of student achievement across various academic subjects. Teachers and education officials typically measure achievement using classroom performance, graduation rates and results from standardized tests. Academic concerns happen to be a rife faced by students nowadays as it could affect students’ lives if kept unperturbed. Hence, there are many factors which contribute to academic performance experienced by undergraduate students which are gender, stress and self-esteem. However, there was a significant correlation of self-esteem with academic performance which is considered to have a correlation as to why students with low self-esteem do not perform as well as students with higher self-esteem. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to assess the level of academic performance which were assessed based on motivation, communication skills, learning skills, creativity, positive attitude and study skills with the self-esteem, stress, academic year and gender among medical students of Melaka Manipal Medical College (MMMC), Malaysia. Method: Undergraduate medical students were invited to participate via an online questionnaire distributed on google forms and sent through a link. The online questionnaire was used to assess socio-demographic data, self-esteem, stress, academic year and academic performance. Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale was used to determine self-esteem and the Perception of Academic Stress (PAS) scale for stress levels whereas an Academic Performance Questionnaire measuring motivation, learning skills, communication skills, creativity, positive attitude and study skills used to assess the academic performance of the students. Unpaired t-test and ANOVA were used for statistical analysis. Results: A total of 135 clinical year medical students participated. The bivariate analysis shows no association between gender, academic year, perceived stress and academic performance. There was a significant positive association between self-esteem and academic performance (P value<0.001), indicating that the higher the self-esteem, the better the academic performance. Conclusion: Majority of the undergraduate medical students with high self-esteem had high academic performance. Hence, interventions to approach students with lower self-esteem should be carried out and advised to the students in order for them to excel better in their academics. There was no correlation between gender, academic year and stress with the academic performance of the undergraduate students.

Academic Performance, Self-esteem, Medical Student, Gender, Academic Year, Stress

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