Selecting Students for Medical Education

Abstract Medical schools all over the world have to select their students as the number of applicants highly exceeds the number of places available. In this

The development of self-regulated learning during the pre-clinical stage of medical school: a comparison between a lecture-based and a problem based curriculum

Society expects physicians to always improve their competencies and to be up to date with developments in their field. Therefore, an important aim of medical schools is to educate future medical doctors to become self-regulated, lifelong learners. However, it is unclear if medical students become better self-regulated learners during the pre-clinical stage of medical school, and whether students develop self-regulated learning skills differently, dependent on the educational approach of their medical school. In a cross-sectional design, we investigated the development of 384 medical students’ self-regulated learning skills with the use of the Self-Regulation of Learning Self-Report Scale. Next, we compared this development in students who enrolled in two distinct medical curricula: a problem-based curriculum and a lectured-based curriculum. Analysis showed that more skills decreased than increased during the pre-clinical stage of medical school, and that the difference between the curricula was mainly caused by a decrease in the skill evaluation in the lecture-based curriculum. These findings seem to suggest that, irrespective of the curriculum, self-regulated learning skills do not develop during medical school

Ethnic and social disparities in performance on medical school selection criteria

Context: Medical schools in Western societies seek measures to increase the diversity of their student bodies with respect to ethnicity and social background. Currently, little is known about the effects of different selection procedures on student diversity. Objectives: This prospective cohort study aimed to determine performance differences between traditional and non-traditional (i.e. ethnic minority and first-generation university candidates) medical school applicants in academic and non-academic selection criteria. Methods: Applicants in 2013 (n = 703) were assessed on academic and non-academic selection criteria. They also completed a questionnaire on ethnicity and social background. Main outcome measures were 'not selected' (i.e. failure on any criteria), 'failure on academic criteria' and 'failure on non-academic criteria'. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by logistic regression analysis for ethnic subgroups (Surinamese/Antillean, Turkish/Moroccan/African, Asian, Western) compared with Dutch applicants, adjusted for age, gender, additional socio-demographic variables (first-generation immigrant, first-generation university applicant, first language, medical doctor as parent) and pre-university grade point average (pu-GPA). Similar analyses were performed for first-generation university applicants. Results: Compared with Dutch appl