Uncertainties in the selection of applicants for medical school

Abstract

Decisions about admissions to medical school are based on assessments of the applicants' cognitive achievements and non-cognitive traits. Admission criteria are expected to be fair, transparent, evidence-based and legally defensible. However, unlike cognitive criteria, which are highly reliable and moderately valid, the reliability and validity of the non-cognitive criteria are low or uncertain. Their uncertain predictive value is due not only to their limited validity, but also to the unknown prevalence of the desirable non-cognitive traits in the applicants' pool. Consequently, the use of non-cognitive admission criteria inevitably leads to rejection of an unknown proportion of applicants who have a desirable trait and selection of applicants who lack this trait. We propose that, rather than using non-cognitive admission criteria, admission officers should assist prospective applicants to make informed decisions based on a reflective self-appraisal whether or not to apply to medical school. To this end, medical schools should disseminate information on the strains of medical training and practice, the frequency of medical errors and the most common causes of dissatisfaction and burn-out among practicing physicians. Such information may improve the self-selection process and thereby enrich the applicants' pool for individuals with appropriate motivation. The final selection of medical students may then be based either on past academic achievements, or on a lottery, or on various combinations thereof.

Benefits of personality characteristics and self‐efficacy in the perceived academic achievement of medical students

“…With regard to the selection process of medical students, our research provides useful knowledge about the additional impact of non-cognitive factors (on top of cognitive factors). As argued in the literature (Benbassat & Baumal, 2007;lambe & Bristow, 2011;O'neill, Hartvigsen, Wallstedt, Korsholm, & Eika, 2011), the assessment of non-cognitive factors may lead to a better self-selection of the medical applicants. Providing objective and reliable information to the applicants about their working behaviours (compared to the ones of medical students) will enable them to make a well-considered study decision.…”

Widening access? Characteristics of applicants to medical and dental schools, compared with UCAS

“…In their defence, proponents of widening access suggest that it does not weaken the medical profession, 6,15 rather it enhances it. Clearly, this is a need for joined-up initiatives encompassing an understanding of students' motivation for choice of career and professional aspirations, future workforce needs and possible policies on admission, to better ensure effective workforces in medicine and dentistry and facilitate the most appropriate 42 however, we live in a fast changing world and medicine and dentistry of the future may require different attributes; for example, it will be interesting to observe if the anticipated changes in skill mix in dentistry, with dentists assuming more of a leadership role, will have an infl uence in years to come. 28 Given the fi ndings of this paper, it is important to note that with little formal emphasis on 'widening access', 43 dentistry is consistently appearing to attract Asians and more so than medicine.…”

Gender Might Be Factor for Student Admission in Two Brazilian Medical Schools

“…Everywhere there have been calls for increases both in number and diversity of health care practitioners in the workforce 2 . It has been suggested that a review of the medical school admission process should be done to turn it more effective and representative of Society's needs 1,[3][4][5] , since the future physician workforce is shaped both by the admission process and medical training. Although researchers have accomplished considerable amount of work in medical education, there are relatively few studies about medical school admission process of the early 21 st century.…”

“…The United Kingdom Clinical Aptitude Test in the United Kingdom, the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in the United States are examples of cognitive tests. The second group (i.e., non-cognitive) considers interviews, discussions of problems in groups, letters of recommendation, and performance on personality tests, such as the Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI), among others 3 . A recent study of medical school admission process in the USA suggests that several aspects of medical school admission process remain unchanged since the mid-1980s, whereas others went through major modifications 1 .…”