Experience With a Selection Method for Admittance to the Universidad Nacional De Cuyo Medical Sciences School

Summary

Since 1989, after five years of unrestricted admission, candidates for admission to the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo Medical Sciences School must go through a selection process. The current procedure is made up of the following steps: information, vocational test, levelling course and knowledge tests in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. In order to compare the academic performance of unrestricted admission students with selective admission students, the following indexes were applied: 1) percentage of passing grades in the final examinations of Normal Anatomy and Biochemistry ; 2) fulfilment of the requirements for taking the second year and third year courses. The percentage of students who passed the Normal Anatomy finals over three consecutive years of unrestricted admission (1985–87) was 19% to 24%, whereas for a similar three-year period of selective admission (1990–92) it was 90% to 95%. The percentage of students who passed the Biochemistry finals over two successive years of unrestricted admission (1987–88) was 14% to 24%, whilst on a similar two-year period of selective entrance (1989–90) it went up to 73%-78%. The percentage of first year unrestricted admission students (year 1987) who passed to second year courses was 21%, as compared with 80% for selective admission students (year 1992). The percentage of first year unrestricted entrance students (year 1986) allowed to pass to third year courses two years after admission, was 15% as compared with 72% for selective admittance students (year 1991). These results clearly show that academic performance improves significantly if admission involves a selection procedure.