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Analysis of factors that predict clinical performance in medical school

Advances in Health Sciences Education volume 14, pages 455–464 (2009)Cite this article

An Erratum to this article was published on 05 August 2009

Abstract

Academic achievement indices including GPAs and MCAT scores are used to predict the spectrum of medical student academic performance types. However, use of these measures ignores two changes influencing medical school admissions: student diversity and affirmative action, and an increased focus on communication skills. To determine if GPA and MCAT predict performance in medical school consistently across students, and whether either predicts clinical performance in clerkships. A path model was developed to examine relationships among indices of medical student performance during the first three years of medical school for five cohorts of medical students. A structural equation approach was used to calculate the coefficients hypothesized in the model for majority and minority students. Significant differences between majority and minority students were observed. MCAT scores, for example, did not predict performance of minority students in the first year of medical school but did predict performance of majority students. This information may be of use to medical school admissions and resident selection committees.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Michigan Medical School, 1135 E. Catherine St. 3960 Taubman Medical Library, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-5726, USA

    Casey B. White & Joseph C. Fantone

  2. University of Michigan School of Education, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Eric L. Dey

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  1. Casey B. White
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  2. Eric L. Dey
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Correspondence to Casey B. White.

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An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10459-009-9189-8

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White, C.B., Dey, E.L. & Fantone, J.C. Analysis of factors that predict clinical performance in medical school. Adv in Health Sci Educ 14, 455–464 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-007-9088-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-007-9088-9

Keywords

  • Clinical performance
  • Predictors of clinical performance
  • MCAT as predictor