Descriptive profile analysis of undergraduate students of Medical Physics and Physics at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

This work aims to evaluate the profile of undergraduate students of Physics and Medical Physics courses at the Institute of Physics of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The period analyzed was from 2011 to 2018, due to variables such as: sex, color, university entrance exam score (ENEM), entry category (traditional or quota), cumulated academic performance coefficient (CRA) and grades in Physics and Calculus basic courses. The average ENEM scores are different among Physics and Medical Physics students (p value < 2.20e-16), as well as the average CRA scores of active students (p value = 7.47e-8). However, these differences disappear between students who completed the course (p value = 0.38). Calculus I and Physics I are the subjects in which Medical Physics students perform poorly, which partly justifies the difference in CRA between active students. The difference is not significant for Calculus II and Physics II.

Keywords
Medical Physics; Physics; Academic performance; University entrance exam; Social quotas