5,441 research outputs found
The academic backbone: longitudinal continuities in educational achievement from secondary school and medical school to MRCP(UK) and the specialist register in UK medical students and doctors
Background: Selection of medical students in the UK is still largely based on prior academic achievement, although doubts have been expressed as to whether performance in earlier life is predictive of outcomes later in medical school or post-graduate education. This study analyses data from five longitudinal studies of UK medical students and doctors from the early 1970s until the early 2000s. Two of the studies used the AH5, a group test of general intelligence (that is, intellectual aptitude). Sex and ethnic differences were also analyzed in light of the changing demographics of medical students over the past decades.
Methods: Data from five cohort studies were available: the Westminster Study (began clinical studies from 1975 to 1982), the 1980, 1985, and 1990 cohort studies (entered medical school in 1981, 1986, and 1991), and the University College London Medical School (UCLMS) Cohort Study (entered clinical studies in 2005 and 2006). Different studies had different outcome measures, but most had performance on basic medical sciences and clinical examinations at medical school, performance in Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians (MRCP(UK)) examinations, and being on the General Medical Council Specialist Register.
Results: Correlation matrices and path analyses are presented. There were robust correlations across different years at medical school, and medical school performance also predicted MRCP(UK) performance and being on the GMC Specialist Register. A-levels correlated somewhat less with undergraduate and post-graduate performance, but there was restriction of range in entrants. General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE)/O-level results also predicted undergraduate and post-graduate outcomes, but less so than did A-level results, but there may be incremental validity for clinical and post-graduate performance. The AH5 had some significant correlations with outcome, but they were inconsistent. Sex and ethnicity also had predictive effects on measures of educational attainment, undergraduate, and post-graduate performance. Women performed better in assessments but were less likely to be on the Specialist Register. Non-white participants generally underperformed in undergraduate and post-graduate assessments, but were equally likely to be on the Specialist Register. There was a suggestion of smaller ethnicity effects in earlier studies.
Conclusions: The existence of the Academic Backbone concept is strongly supported, with attainment at secondary school predicting performance in undergraduate and post-graduate medical assessments, and the effects spanning many years. The Academic Backbone is conceptualized in terms of the development of more sophisticated underlying structures of knowledge ('cognitive capital’ and 'medical capital’). The Academic Backbone provides strong support for using measures of educational attainment, particularly A-levels, in student selection
Construct-level predictive validity of educational attainment and intellectual aptitude tests in medical student selection: meta-regression of six UK longitudinal studies
Background: Measures used for medical student selection should predict future performance during training. A problem for any selection study is that predictor-outcome correlations are known only in those who have been selected, whereas selectors need to know how measures would predict in the entire pool of applicants. That problem of interpretation can be solved by calculating construct-level predictive validity, an estimate of true predictor-outcome correlation across the range of applicant abilities.
Methods: Construct-level predictive validities were calculated in six cohort studies of medical student selection and training (student entry, 1972 to 2009) for a range of predictors, including A-levels, General Certificates of Secondary Education (GCSEs)/O-levels, and aptitude tests (AH5 and UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT)). Outcomes included undergraduate basic medical science and finals assessments, as well as postgraduate measures of Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom (MRCP(UK)) performance and entry in the Specialist Register. Construct-level predictive validity was calculated with the method of Hunter, Schmidt and Le (2006), adapted to correct for right-censorship of examination results due to grade inflation.
Results: Meta-regression analyzed 57 separate predictor-outcome correlations (POCs) and construct-level predictive validities (CLPVs). Mean CLPVs are substantially higher (.450) than mean POCs (.171). Mean CLPVs for first-year examinations, were high for A-levels (.809; CI: .501 to .935), and lower for GCSEs/O-levels (.332; CI: .024 to .583) and UKCAT (mean = .245; CI: .207 to .276). A-levels had higher CLPVs for all undergraduate and postgraduate assessments than did GCSEs/O-levels and intellectual aptitude tests. CLPVs of educational attainment measures decline somewhat during training, but continue to predict postgraduate performance. Intellectual aptitude tests have lower CLPVs than A-levels or GCSEs/O-levels.
Conclusions: Educational attainment has strong CLPVs for undergraduate and postgraduate performance, accounting for perhaps 65% of true variance in first year performance. Such CLPVs justify the use of educational attainment measure in selection, but also raise a key theoretical question concerning the remaining 35% of variance (and measurement error, range restriction and right-censorship have been taken into account). Just as in astrophysics, ‘dark matter’ and ‘dark energy’ are posited to balance various theoretical equations, so medical student selection must also have its ‘dark variance’, whose nature is not yet properly characterized, but explains a third of the variation in performance during training. Some variance probably relates to factors which are unpredictable at selection, such as illness or other life events, but some is probably also associated with factors such as personality, motivation or study skills
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Mental Health and Wellbeing in England: the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2014
This report presents findings of a survey of mental illness and wellbeing among people aged 16 and over living in private households in England. The survey was commissioned by NHS Digital and funded by the Department of Health, and is the fourth in a series of surveys of adult mental health
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Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2017: Trends and characteristics
This survey series provides England’s best source of data on trends in child mental health. Emotional, behavioural, hyperactivity, and other types of mental disorder were assessed in 5 to 15 year olds in 1999, 5 to 16 year olds in 2004, and 5 to 19 year olds in 2017.
One in eight (12.8%) 5 to 19 year olds had a mental disorder when assessed in 2017. Rates were similar in boys and girls. Data for 5 to 15 year olds show a slight upward trend over time in the prevalence of emotional disorders.Rates for behavioural, hyperactivity and other disorders have remained broadly stable
Rotorcraft digital advanced avionics system (RODAAS) functional description
A functional design of a rotorcraft digital advanced avionics system (RODAAS) to transfer the technology developed for general aviation in the Demonstration Advanced Avionics System (DAAS) program to rotorcraft operation was undertaken. The objective was to develop an integrated avionics system design that enhances rotorcraft single pilot IFR operations without increasing the required pilot training/experience by exploiting advanced technology in computers, busing, displays and integrated systems design. A key element of the avionics system is the functionally distributed architecture that has the potential for high reliability with low weight, power and cost. A functional description of the RODAAS hardware and software functions is presented
Small RNAs and Immunity
AbstractSmall RNAs of 21–23 nucleotides are powerful regulators of gene expression and play essential roles in biological processes that include development, maintenance of genome stability, and viral adaptive defense mechanisms. Such small RNAs are simple in design yet rich in biology and have captivated the attention of biologists in many fields. This review discusses the potential roles of small RNAs in immune biology and speculates on their potential participation in lymphogenesis and antiviral mechanisms
Retaliatory Evictions in Washington and Seattle: In Search of Public Policy
Retaliatory eviction occurs when a landlord evicts a tenant because the tenant took action to compel the landlord to comply with the law. Because tenants had no laws with which to compel landlords to comply until the relatively recent advent of remedial housing legislation, the retaliatory eviction defense is a recent development in the law. After examining the historical basis for the retaliatory eviction defense, this comment discusses remedial housing legislation in Washington. It illustrates (i) the historical concern of both the state legislature and the state supreme court for quality rental housing; (ii) the state\u27s historical dependence on municipalities to enforce and supervise the housing standards spawned by that concern; and (iii) municipalities\u27 reliance on tenant complaints, particularly those of periodic tenants, as a crucial part of these enforcement and supervisory efforts. This comment then analyzes a recent retaliatory eviction case decided by the state court of appeals. Failing to consider the historical perspective of the state\u27s housing policies, that court misconstrued the Residential Landlord Tenant Act to exempt periodic tenant evictions from the Act\u27s retaliatory eviction prohibition. The comment concludes that the city of Seattle\u27s recent Just Cause Eviction Ordinance, permitting a landlord to evict a tenant only for good cause, is consistent with the state\u27s housing policies and is not preempted by any exemption of retaliatory termination of periodic tenancies. The Ordinance should, however, substantially reduce the number of retaliatory evictions in Seattle. Until the court of appeals\u27 decision is overruled or changed by statute, tenants in other municipalities will be without this protection
A comparison of analysis techniques for extracting resonance parameters from lattice Monte Carlo data
Different methods for extracting resonance parameters from Euclidean lattice
field theory are tested. Monte Carlo simulations of the O(4) non-linear sigma
model are used to generate energy spectra in a range of different volumes both
below and above the inelastic threshold. The applicability of the analysis
methods in the elastic region is compared. Problems which arise in the
inelastic region are also emphasised.Comment: 17 pages, 20 figures; clarification and minor corrections added, to
appear in PR
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