Validation of mental agility test and personal qualities assessment tools for selecting medical students in Nepal: Mental agility and personal qualities tests

Introduction: Patan Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS) decided to test mental agility and personal qualities to select undergraduate medical students, different than the conventional approaches used to test for physics, chemistry, and biology contents in other universities in Nepal. Method: Personal Qualities Assessment (PQA) test batteries used to select medical students in twelve different countries were pilot tested with 10+2 non-sciences, 10+2 science, and 10+3 health science students. The PQA tools were forward translated into Nepali and back-translated in English by bilingual experts independently. The face and content validity of these tools in the Nepali language was established through discussions and consensus with the PAHS admission team and PQA team in Australia. Result: The PQA tools assessing non-cognitive qualities in the Nepali language were found to be internally consistent in the first pre-test with science and non-science students. PQA tool assessing mental agility in the English language showed acceptable internal consistency in the second pre-test with science and health science students. Conclusion: Mental agility test in the English language was found to be a suitable cognitive test for selecting medical students. Non-cognitive tests in the Nepali language were found to be reliable and valid to identify applicants with unusual personal traits, leading to deselection. These tests can be considered for selecting undergraduate medical students.   Keywords: Cognitive, mental agility test- MAT, Nepal, Non-cognitive, Patan Academy of Health Sciences- PAHS, personal qualities assessment- PQA

Embedding social accountability in the medical school and its curricula: Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Nepal

Introduction:  Patan Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS) was established in 2008 with a social accountability mandate and the mission to produce competent and committed health professionals to serve the rural and underserved population. Enrolment of undergraduate medical students started from 2010.  This article describes the context and process for the establishment of the Academy, the approaches taken and some of the early outputs Method: The information was collected from the policy documents, PAHS website, meeting minutes/ discussions, feedbacks and medial school records. All the information were compiled and presented under different headings/subheadings in a phase wise manner. Result: PAHS has been actively engaged in a multitude of partnerships from local to global and has chosen the best and most applicable innovations from around the world. The integrated suite of innovations the Academy has developed includes its admission policy, teaching-learning methodologies, community-based learning, scholarship-schemes and service bonds. The PAHS School of Medicine has successfully enrolled undergraduate medical students from all over the country, representing ethnic diversity, remote/rural background, underprivileged communities and gender balance. More than 50% graduates from the first five-batches are successfully deployed into primary level peripheral health facilities of the government health system. Conclusion: The initial reports and observations confirm that the integrated measures taken by the Academy have been effective in enrolling the right students, educating them in an effective way and deploying them to address the country's need. A longer follow-up on rural retention and performance evaluation is needed to conclusively establish the outcome of the school