Educational Achievement in Medical Students Entered University between 1995 and 2003, Kerman University of Medical Sciences

Background & Objective : Assessing students’ grades in their courses and in national comprehensive exams may help us in the assessment of educational status of different departments indirectly. In this study, the internal consistency of medical students’ scores in Kerman University of Medical Sciences was assessed. Methods : In a historical cohort study, students’ grades and other information for entrance years between 1995 and 2003 were extracted from the central admission office and 10 indicators for educational achievement were defined for each student. Having used Cronbach's alpha and linear regression, we checked the internal consistency of scores. Also, we used factorial analysis and related graphs (Dendrogram) to evaluate the consistency between factors of students’ educational achievement. Results : Females were more successful in all series of students except for national comprehensive exams. Although internal consistency in males’ scores was more than females’, males’ scores in specific courses of basic sciences were more related to the scores of their basic sciences comprehensive exams. In addition, internal consistency in males’ scores was more than females’ especially in clinical courses. Higher age at entering university could cause a decrease in educational success. Students’ grades in various courses had slight consistency with national comprehensive exams. Moreover, the internal consistency of scores during clerkship and internship were significantly lower than the other phases. Conclusion : Lower consistency of scores in clinical courses may imply lower validity of these scores. Unlike higher educational success in females, it seems that stability in males’ scores was greater in most indicators. Keywords: Educational achievement, Internal consistency, Educational success evaluation, Medical student of Kerman University of Medical Sciences

The internal consistency of medical students' scores in their physiopathology and clinical courses

Background: To quantify the internal consistency of medical students′ scores.Aim: We assessed the associations between medical students′ scores in physiopathology and clinical courses and compared these scores with their scores in their comprehensive exams. Settings and Design: We collected medical students′ scores in their courses and also in their comprehensive exam in six consecutive years. Materials and Methods: We assessed the associations between students′ scores and their personal characteristics, and the consistency between theoretical and practical courses. Statistical Analysis: We used Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression. In addition, we computed difficulty and discrimination indices of students′ scores in their courses by comparing these scores with comprehensive clinical exam (CCE). Results: Generally, females and younger students were more successful. CCE were predicted by students′ scores and their characteristics relatively accurate (the adjusted R2 of the model was 0.59). Students′ scores in the pathology and in thesis had the maximum and minimum discrimination indices, while the difficulties of these two courses were in reverse order. The strongest association was observed between theoretical and practical scores in internal medicine while the associations between theoretical and practical scores in the other courses were not strong although all of them were statistically significant. Conclusions: Using this approach to explore the students′ score, might highlight the weak points of the current educational system. For example we found that the students′ score in thesis had the minimum accuracy; although students obtained very high score in this course. Hence, for better comparison of the accuracy students′ scores in colleges around the world, we recommend similar quantitative approac