Volume 187 - Issue 4
Entry tests for graduate medical programs: is it time to re-think?
Authors: Michele A Groves, Jill Gordon and Greg Ryan
Med J Aust 2007; 187 (4): 255. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2007.tb01228.x
Published online: 20 August 2007
Published online: 20 August 2007
In reply: The limitations of our study have been acknowledged, and we agree with Parker and colleagues that further research is needed. However, their proposition that selection scores may not be intended to predict relative performance in programs seems at odds with their recommendation to select principally on the basis of academic performance. If selection scores do not provide predictability, why bother establishing any criteria at all? Why not simply use a lottery system, as they have been claimed to be equally effective?1
Although our study did not set out to evaluate the relative merits of cognitive versus non-cognitive criteria for selecting medical students, surely the first question to be decided is whether non-cognitive characteristics, including interpersonal skills, attitudes and behaviour, are important in medical practice and should be considered in selecting future doctors. If so, then the next question is how best to select students with these characteristics or, at least, the capacity to develop them during their medical training. The selection processes of most medical schools indicate that the answer to the first question is “yes”. In answering the second question, not only the validity of the chosen method, but its feasibility in terms of cost and effectiveness need to be considered.
References
- Coebergh J. Dutch medical schools abandon selection for lottery system for places. Student BMJ 2003; 11: 138. 0_CIDBGADH
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