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Signatures of medical student applicants and academic success.

ABSTRACT: The acceptance of students to a medical school places a considerable emphasis on performance in standardized tests and undergraduate grade point average (uGPA). Traditionally, applicants may be judged as a homogeneous population according to simple quantitative thresholds that implicitly assume a linear relationship between scores and academic success. This 'one-size-fits-all' approach ignores the notion that individuals may show distinct patterns of achievement and follow diverse paths to success. In this study, we examined a dataset composed of 53 variables extracted from the admissions application records of 1,088 students matriculating to NYU School of Medicine between the years 2006-2014. We defined training and test groups and applied K-means clustering to search for distinct groups of applicants. Building an optimized logistic regression model, we then tested the predictive value of this clustering for estimating the success of applicants in medical school, aggregating eight performance measures during the subsequent medical school training as a success factor. We found evidence for four distinct clusters of students-we termed 'signatures'-which differ most substantially according to the absolute level of the applicant's uGPA and its trajectory over the course of undergraduate education. The 'risers' signature showed a relatively higher uGPA and also steeper trajectory; the other signatures showed each remaining combination of these two main factors: 'improvers' relatively lower uGPA, steeper trajectory; 'solids' higher uGPA, flatter trajectory; 'statics' both lower uGPA and flatter trajectory. Examining the success index across signatures, we found that the risers and the statics have significantly higher and lower likelihood of quantifiable success in medical school, respectively. We also found that each signature has a unique set of features that correlate with its success in medical school. The big data approach presented here can more sensitively uncover success potential since it takes into account the inherent heterogeneity within the student population.

SUBMITTER: Baron T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6961867 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Signatures of medical student applicants and academic success.

Baron Tal T Grossman Robert I RI Abramson Steven B SB Pusic Martin V MV Rivera Rafael R Triola Marc M MM Yanai Itai I

PloS one 20200115 1

The acceptance of students to a medical school places a considerable emphasis on performance in standardized tests and undergraduate grade point average (uGPA). Traditionally, applicants may be judged as a homogeneous population according to simple quantitative thresholds that implicitly assume a linear relationship between scores and academic success. This 'one-size-fits-all' approach ignores the notion that individuals may show distinct patterns of achievement and follow diverse paths to succe ...[more]

PMID: 31940377

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Project description:BackgroundMedical student journals (MSJs) help to introduce the fundamentals of academic research and publication to future doctors. It has recently been shown that MSJs can influence doctors' future academic and professional success, however these findings have not been replicated in an Australian cohort. The aim of this study was to examine the association between publication in the Australian Medical Student Journal (AMSJ) and markers of a student's future academic trajectory, including future publication, attainment of higher academic degree or entry into specialist training.MethodsArticles authored by medical students in the AMSJ from 2010 to 2015 were retrospectively identified. A list of these student authors was made, with university- and year- matched control students randomly selected from university graduation databases. For all students, data related to academic success were obtained from multiple sources including PubMed®, Google, university databases and author affiliation information from publications. A multivariable conditional logistic regression model was used to assess correlation between variables. The primary outcome measure was the number of postgraduate PubMed®-indexed publications. Secondary outcome measures included attainment of higher degree or faculty position. Clinical speciality was also recorded.ResultsFifty-five AMSJ authors (14 case reports, 17 original research, 21 review articles) from 14 Australian universities were included. Publication in the AMSJ was associated with future PubMed® indexed publications (OR 3.43, 95% CI 1.74-6.77, P < 0.001) and higher degree attainment (OR 4.05, 95% CI 1.99-8.22, P = 0.0001). AMSJ authors were also significantly more likely to enter into surgical training (OR 2.53, 95% CI 1.10-5.84, P = 0.029). A multivariable conditional logistic regression model demonstrated that publication in the AMSJ was predictive of future PubMed indexed publication, independent of higher degree or faculty position attainment (OR 2.56, CI 1.22-5.39, P = 0.01).ConclusionWe have shown that publication in a MSJ is associated with markers of academic success in an Australian cohort. PubMed®-indexed publications, attainment of a Masters degree, and entry in to surgical training were all significantly correlated to AMSJ publication. A conditional logistic regression model demonstrated that medical student publication in the AMSJ influences the number of future PubMed®-indexed publications, independent of major academic confounding variables.

Project description:IntroductionAlthough emergency medicine (EM) residency program directors (PD) have multiple sources to evaluate each applicant, some programs await the release of the medical student performance evaluation (MSPE) to extend interview offers. While prior studies have demonstrated that MSPE content is variable and selectively positive, no prior work has evaluated the impact of the MSPE on the likelihood to invite (LTI) applicants for a residency interview. This study aimed to evaluate how information in the MSPE impacted LTI, with the hypothesis that changes in LTI would be relatively rare based on MSPE review alone.MethodsWe conducted a prospective, observational study analyzing applications to three EM residency programs during the 2019-2020 match cycle. Reviewers assessed applications and rated the LTI on a five-point Likert scale where LTI was defined as follows: 1 = definitely no; 2 = probably no; 3 = unsure; 4 = probably yes; and 5 = definitely yes. The LTI was recorded before and after MSPE review. A change in LTI was considered meaningful when it changed the overall trajectory of the applicant's likelihood to receive an invitation to interview.ResultsWe reviewed a total of 877 applications with the LTI changing ≥1 point on the Likert scale 160 (18.2%) times. The LTI was meaningfully impacted in a minority of applications - 48 total (5.5 %, p< 0.01) - with only 1 (0.11%) application changing from 1 or 2 (definitely/probably no) to 4 or 5 (probably/definitely yes) and 34 (3.8%) changing from 3 (unsure) to 4 or 5 (probably/definitely yes). Thirteen (1.5%) applications changed from 4 or 5 (probably/definitely yes) to 3 (unsure or probably/definitely no).ConclusionReview of the MSPE resulted in a meaningful change in LTI in only 5.5% of applications. Given the time required for program leadership to review all parts of the variably formatted MSPEs, this finding supports a more efficient application review, where the PD's focus is on succinct and objective aspects of the application, such as the Standardized Letter of Evaluation.

Dataset Information

Signatures of medical student applicants and academic success.

Publications

Signatures of medical student applicants and academic success.

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