School engagement and student burnout among medical and health science students in Saudi Arabia-cross-sectional study

School engagement and burnout are contributing factors influencing academic student performance. Student burnout is a serious concern in higher education, where it can result in poor mental and physical health and school dropout. Although recent studies indicate the significance of the relationship between academic engagement and achievement, little is known about how academic engagement and burnout affect medical sciences students in the Madinah region of Saudi Arabia. We aimed to assess the level of school engagement and student burnout among medical and health science students in Madinah, Saudi Arabia. Factors associated with school engagement and student burnout were also explored. A cross-sectional data of 297 students last year medical and health science undergraduate students who were recruited from Taibah University, Madinah. The online survey was shared with students to collect data on sample characteristics, school engagement (using the modified version of the University Student Engagement Inventory), and student burnout (using the modified version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory Student Survey). The data showed that 57.5% of medical science students in the sample were academically engaged, and 55.9% experienced burnout, indicating a moderate to high level of student engagement and burnout. However, there was no correlation between school engagement and student burnout (r = 0.27) among the sample in this study. Nevertheless, school engagement was affected by factors such as student living status (p = 0.036), dropout thoughts (p = 0.008), and cumulative GPA (p = 0.001). In addition to dropout thoughts and GPA, the student burnout level was also predicted by the college (p = 0.012), program duration (p < 0.001), sex (p = 0.016), and average sleeping hours per day (p = 0.019). These results imply that school engagement and burnout may not be directly related or opposites and can interact in a variety of ways depending on factors including student personality and lifestyle, as well as academic and institutional influences. Many factors were linked to school engagement and student burnout. Interventions that aim to reduce student burnout should be tailored based on many factors including program duration and sex of students.