Selection Of Medical Students Research Articles

The Selection of Residents

To the Editor. —Dr McCollister 1 should be more sympathetic to the surgical subspecialty residency selection committees. They have the same problem medical student selection committees have, which is to select the best candidates. Medical schools have available to them numerical college grades, class standing, and results of the Medical College Admission Test as relative quantitative measures of academic performance. Residency selection committees are not as blessed. Most American medical schools provide them with a Pollyannaish dean's letter, which finds complimentary things to say about all students and seldom provides class ranking. The medical school transcript frequently lists grades in terms of pass-fail and few objective relative measures are passed along. Intelligent medical judgment is based, among many factors, on pathophysiological understanding. Thus, a measure of it should be an important criterion in residency selection. In the absence of class standings, numerical grades, and a meaningful dean's letter, scores from

The objective structured interview for medical student selection.

An objective structured interview is an integral part of the process of selecting and admitting applicants to study medicine at this university. During the nine years (to the end of 1986) that the interview has been used 1600 candidates were interviewed out of roughly 13,000 applicants, and from these, 584 students were admitted to the course. Analysis of the interview data was carried out based on two aspects of student progress: graduation with honours and failure to complete the course of study. The interview as a whole, and especially some of the subscales, appears to identify students who may fail to complete the course: it may also help to predict which students are likely to graduate with honours.

The Selection of Medical Students

<h3>To the Editor.—</h3> The article by DeVaul et al¹is an example of a study that becomes so caught up in statistical analysis and impossible comparisons that the authors come to a conclusion that not only does not follow from the data presented, but also displays the frightening realities of how certain admission committees are run. The authors claim that "the traditional interview process probably does not enhance the ability to predict performance of medical school applicants." This conclusion is based on a comparison of applicants initially accepted to medical school with a group of applicants initially rejected. The performance of these students in medical school and one year after graduation revealed no significant differences. "Even when the top 50 students in committee preference were compared with the 50 IR [initially rejected] applicants, there were no differences." We are given a table (Table 3) that compares the two groups

The Selection of Medical Students-Reply

In Reply.— We appreciate Mr Shepard's interest in our article and are in complete accord with his concern for selection of candidates who will be both competent and compassionate physicians. The use of statistical analysis in an area so subjective as the selection of medical students may appear to obfuscate. Our purpose was simply to establish that the students who were initially rejected were a different population from those who were initially accepted at Houston and at other medical schools. Conversely, we deemed it important to establish that there were no differences between groups at the conclusion of the formal curriculum. It was not our intent to condemn the interview as a part of the selection process. We have not suggested that there is an either-or dichotomy in choosing between academic credentials and impressions gained by a personal interview. We have seen, and we continue to see, the importance of

The selection of medical students

<h3>In Reply.—</h3> In response to Dr Emory, we acknowledge our oversight in including the same 25 patients from two independent reports of the efficacy of HDHE. We note that these 25 patients experienced a rate of DVT (16%) that was higher than the overall rate of DVT (12.4%) that we calculated for this prophylaxis. Thus, inclusion of these patients slightly increased the rate of DVT for HDHE, and thereby reduced its cost-effectiveness. The protocol for administration of HDHE that we used for costing was taken from the minimum regimen that we specified for inclusion of trial reports. We note that one trial indeed used this minimum regimen. Finally, as Dr Emory notes, HDHE has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for DVT prophylaxis in orthopedic surgery. Physicians, however, may prescribe licensed drugs for nonapproved indications, and many drugs are frequently used in this manner.¹

Points: Selection of medical students by medical schools

Points: Selection of medical students by medical schools

Selection of medical students by medical schools

Selection of medical students by medical schools

Selection and performance of medical students and residents with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

The preliminary study reported here indicates that a number of medical students and residents are identified Type 1 diabetics (although the actual number is probably greater) and that they perform well. Most programs and schools have no formal or informal policy regarding the acceptance of diabetic candidates; indeed, most consider the disease irrelevant and treat the diabetic candidates the same as nondiabetic candidates in the selection process.

Selecting medical students: a rational approach.

The selection of medical students is a major factor influencing the outcome of medical education. Comprehensive literature on the subject is limited and there is dissatisfaction with traditional approaches. We attempt to provide a rational approach to the selection of medical students with a theoretical, and methodological model for answering the two most fundamental questions in student selection. The first concerns the purpose of selection and the second concerns the prerequisites which best predict achieving this purpose. A differentiated selection process is proposed and illustrated.

Construct Validity and Construct Similarity: Methods for Use in Test Development and Test Validation.

A procedure is suggested for test development and construct validation based on a theory about the criterion performance. The procedure involves building a criterion test and testing its fit to the theory by experimental or correlational methods, and assessing the construct validity of the desired operational test in terms of its similarity to the criterion test. The method is illustrated by describing a study concerned with the selection of medical school students, where the criterion is a measure of clinical problem-solving ability.

Studies on Personality Tests in Medical Student Selection

Studies on Personality Tests in Medical Student Selection

Studies on Personality Tests in Medical Student Selection

Studies on Personality Tests in Medical Student Selection

Studies on Personality Tests in Medical Student Selection

Studies on Personality Tests in Medical Student Selection

Medical Student Selection in the UK

Medical Student Selection in the UK

The medical college admission test and the selection of medical students.

Editor's note: The following commentary was invited as a response to the unsolicited essays by Anderson and by Powers, which appear in this issue under "Occasional Notes." None of the authors read the other statements before preparing his article, but readers will see that they address the same questions: Does the MCAT in fact serve a useful purpose, and are its design and content appropriate for the uses to which it is put?During the past two and a half years, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has been engaged in a comprehensive study of undergraduate medical education called . . .

The MCAT malady.

IN the past year, the lay press has described medical education in the United States as being "brutal" and "dehumanizing." Matriculating medical students have been categorized as "aggressive, competitive, narrow, dishonest, unfriendly individuals — in other words, nerds," 1 selected from an undergraduate population afflicted by the "premed syndrome," whose selfish pursuit of high test scores has led to their designation by classmates as "throats" and "grunts." Although it is appealing to dismiss such criticism as distorted journalistic hyperbole, the problems arising from the competitive selection and rigorous education of medical students are very real and are now under review by . . .

Selection of medical students--is intelligence enough? Discussion paper.

Selection of medical students--is intelligence enough? Discussion paper.

Selection of medical students with emphasis on interpersonal intervention potential

Selection of medical students with emphasis on interpersonal intervention potential

The Physician as an Educated Person-Reply

In Reply.— In all of the previous letters there seems to be recognition that changes in medical education are occurring. I was aware that innovations in both medical student selection and shifts in curriculum were being made in many more schools than those cited in my commentary. I was not aware, however, that the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine was offering a combined program leading to both baccalaureate and medical degrees to applicants directly from high school. The plan seems well conceived. I am sympathetic with the problems stated and inferred in the last two letters. Unlike most students, Mr Harper is asking for even more direction from both premedical and medical faculties as to what to study and how to do it, without too much soul-searching on his part to determine his ultimate goals. In his example of treating a bricklayer with a slipped disk, he indulges

Description of the interview process in selecting students for admission to U.S. medical schools.

A survey was made of the medical schools in the United States to obtain a description of the interview process used in the selection of first-year medical students. The following questions were the basis for the study: What is the role of the interview in the selection of medical students? What is the nature of the interview process? How is the interview administered? An 87 percent response rate was obtained. The results indicated that 99 percent of the responding medical schools use interviews in evaluating students for medical school admission, and the interview ranks second only to the grade-point average in importance among four selection factors. The interview is usually in a one to one setting, with each applicant having two separate interviews. All schools use faculty and staff members in interviewing, and usually at least one admissions committee member interviews each applicant. Usually interviews are conducted on the campus of the school. Implications drawn from the results indicate a need for a quantification of methods to incorporate the interview into the selection process.