Institutional barriers and delays in obtaining a professional degree among medical students at a National Peruvian University: a time-to-event analysis

Quincho-Lopez A.; Poma N.; Meneses G. · Frontiers in Education (2026) · DOI: 10.3389/feduc.2026.1814671

Resumen

Introduction – In Peru, medical students may obtain their professional degree by either passing a qualifying examination or completing a thesis. However, for students who entered medical school in 2016 or later, completion of a thesis became mandatory. This study aimed to evaluate the time to completion of the professional degree and identify factors among medical students at a national Peruvian university. Methods – An observational study was conducted using time-to-event analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression in R. Results – Among 183 medical students, 76.5% (n = 140) obtained their professional degree during the follow-up period, with a median time to degree completion of 208 days [95% confidence interval (CI), 171–249]. Approximately 1 year after completing the medical internship, 76.5% of graduates had obtained their professional degree. A longer time to graduation was associated with male sex [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.51] and the requirement for ethics committee approval (HR = 0.52); whereas students who enrolled in 2016 achieved degree completion more quickly (HR = 1.77). Discussion – These findings underscore the importance of strengthening research training within medical education in developing countries while also streamlining institutional and administrative processes that may delay professional degree completion.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola