This study aims to clarify the interdependence between Academic Burnout (AB) and Academic Engagement (AE) by undergraduate students in the health area, and further the characterization of this relationship based on their associations with demographic and academic variables (Academic Achievement - AA). It was used a multivariate, correlational observational design, with a stratified random sample of 802 students from programs of medicine, nursing, physiotherapy and psychology of private universities of Barranquilla, Colombia. The instruments used were the MBI-SS, the UWES-S and a questionnaire about (AA) academic and socioeconomic variables. The analysis of the relationship between AB and AE, suggests considering to each of these syndromes as extremes of the same phenomenic continuum or factor, composed of the dimensions of Vigor, Dedication, Academic Inefficacy and Cynicism , with opposite values at the extremes or poles of the factor. Were identified demographic and academic variables that were significantly associated with the poles of the AB and the AE of the acknowledged factor, where the AB was a good predictor of poor AA, and the AE a good predictor of good AA.