Exploring the Association Between Grade Point Average and Work Engagement: Insights from a Cross-Sectional Study in Medical Students

Runzhi Huang¹Jiajie Zhou²Yang Chen¹Wei Zhang¹Min Lin³Meiqiong Gong⁴Bingnan Lu⁵Minghao Jin²Yuntao Yao⁵Yuwei Lu²Xirui Tong¹Jianyu Lu¹Maosheng Yu²Huabin Yin⁶Xiaonan Wang⁷XIN LIU⁸Yue Wang⁹Wenfang Chen¹⁰Chongyou Zhang¹¹Erbin Du¹²Qing Lin¹³Zongqiang Huang¹⁴Jie Zhang¹⁵Yifan Liu⁵Dayuan Xu¹Shuyuan Xian¹Shizhao Ji^1*

• ¹Department of Burns, The First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University, No. 168 Changhai Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai, 200433, China, Shanghai, China
• ²Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
• ³Mental Health Education and Consultation Center,Chongqing Medical University, Shanghai, China
• ⁴Office of Educational Administration, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, China, Shanghai, China
• ⁵Department of Urology, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China, Shanghai, China
• ⁶Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai, China
• ⁷Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Capital Medical University, Beijing, Beijing, China
• ⁸Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University, Shanghai, 200052, China, Shanghai, China
• ⁹School of Public Health, Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, China
• ¹⁰Faculty of Medicine, Jinggangshan University, Ji’An, Jiangxi Province, China
• ¹¹Basic Medical College. Harbin Medical University,157 Baojian Road, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, China., Harbin, Jilin Province, China
• ¹²Frist Clinical Medical College, Mudanjiang Medical University, 66 Tongxiang Street, Mudanjiang,157011, China., Mudanjiang, China
• ¹³Department of Human Anatomy, Laboratory of Clinical Applied Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, 1 Xuefu North Road, Fuzhou, 350122, China., Fujian, China
• ¹⁴Department of Orthopaedics, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China
• ¹⁵Department of Gynecology, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, Shanghai, China

Background Medical students’ work engagement (MSWE) has widely been considered as an essential evaluation of medical students’ state of mind, affecting their productivity and career development of a future doctor. In our previous research, grade point average (GPA) has been demonstrated to be an independent indicator to predict self-regulation level (SLR), which was tightly associated with MSWE. However, the relationship between GPA and MSWE hasn’t been systematically elucidated. Our study aims to discover and clarify the significant association between GPA and MSWE. Methods We collected the data sample from 12 universities in China and evaluated MSWE by Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). Next, we conducted a cross-sectional study where GPA and UWES scores or categories were recorded at the same time. Pearson Chi-Square tests and Welch’s ANOVA tests were utilized to explore the distributional association between GPA and MSWE. Afterwards, multivariate logistic regression analysis was utilized to examine whether GPA was a significant factor of MSWE, followed by a subgroup analysis to exclude other confounding factors. Ultimately, we took GPA as a key variable and established a nomogram to evaluate the possibility of low UWES scores coupled with calibration and accuracy evaluation. Results Pearson Chi-Square tests (p = 2.54e-65) and Welch’s ANOVA tests (p = 8.07e-48) demonstrate that GPA exerts a strong association with UWES scores, implying for the MSWE. Medical students with GPA of “top 5%” and “5-20%” manifested a high level of MSWE. Multivariate analysis revealed the statistical significance of GPA in each rank category (all p-values < 0.001), thereby consolidating GPA’s significancy in factoring MSWE. Also, the statistical significance still existed in subgroup analysis, which excluded the confounding effect of age and gender. Ultimately, the nomogram was verified to be accurate and reliable (AUC = 0.626), providing a quantitative assessment of MSWE mainly based on GPA. Conclusion Medical students with higher GPA were inclined to have better MSWE. And GPA was strongly validated to be a significant factor to evaluate MSWE.