advertising
-
1
Donnon T, Paoluccici EO, Violata C: The predictive validity of the MCAT for medical school performance and medical board licensing examinations: a meta-analysis of the published research. .Acad Med 82::100. ,2007. .
-
2
Evans P, Wen FK: Does the medical school admission test predict global academic performance in osteopathic medical school?. J Am Osteopath Assoc 107::157. ,2007. .
-
3
Mitchell KJ: Traditional predictors of performance in medical school. .Acad Med 65::149. ,1990. .
-
4
Hall FR, Bailey BA: Correlating students’ undergraduate science GPAs, their MCAT scores and the academic caliber of undergraduate colleges with first-year academic performances across five classes at Dartmouth medical school. .Acad Med 67::121. ,1992. .
-
5
Nowacek GA, Pullen E, Short J, et al: Validity of CAT scores as predictors of preclinical grades and NBME part 1 examination scores. .J Med Educ 62::989. ,1987. .
-
6
Wiley A, Koenig JA: The validity of the medical college admission test for predicting performance in the first two years of medical school. .Acad Med 71::83. ,1996.
-
7
Dixon D: Relation between variables of preadmission, medical school performance, and CPMLEX-USA levels 1 and 2 performance. .J Am Osteopath Assoc 102::332. ,2004. .
-
8
Dixon D: Correlation of preadmission variables with medical school performance and level 1 COMLEX-USA scores. .J Am Osteopath Assoc 102::510. ,2002. .
-
9
American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Admissions updates and facts about osteopathic medical education. Available at: http://www.aacom.org/about/fastfacts/Pages/default.aspx. Accessed November 1. ,2008. .
-
10
American Association of College of Podiatric Medicine Applicant statistics. Available at: http://www.aacpm.org. Accessed November 2. ,2008. .
Admission Characteristics and Academic Performance of Podiatric and Osteopathic Medical Students at Des Moines University
Search for other papers by Robert M. Yoho in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Vassilios Vardaxis in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Kathryn Comstock in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Background: Podiatric and osteopathic medical students at Des Moines University take the same basic science medical curriculum. The first course students complete is medical biochemistry. The final common course is the second-year medical pharmacology course. Attrition typically occurs between these academic offerings. We sought to compare admissions data, retention rates, and academic performance between these two groups of medical students for the classes of 2008 to 2011.
Methods: Average admission scores, performance scores for the biochemistry and medical pharmacology courses, and retention rates for the 2008 to 2011 classes were obtained from the registrar and enrollment offices. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare the scores of the two cohorts. Linear regression was used to identify changes across time.
Results: The DO students showed significantly better performance than the DPM students in matriculating overall and science grade point averages, total Medical College Admissions Test scores, retention rates, and the medical biochemistry course (P < .01). There was no difference in the performance of the student groups in the medical pharmacology course. The DPM student scores across the four classes increased for both academic courses, whereas the DO student scores remained at the same level for medical biochemistry, at a rate of 0.74% per year (R2 = 0.50), and pharmacology, at a rate of 0.90% per year (R2 = 0.49).
Conclusions: Admissions data and initial academic performance of osteopathic medical students were higher than those of podiatric medical students. Once attrition occurred in year 1, the difference in academic performance between these groups of students was no longer statistically significant, and students in both medical programs at that time in the curriculum are equally academically qualified. (J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 100(4): 276–280, 2010)
advertising
