Correlation of Pre-Veterinary Admissions Criteria, Intra-Professional Curriculum Measures, AVMA-COE Professional Competency Scores, and the NAVLE

Abstract

Data consisting of preadmission criteria scores, annual and final cumulative grade point averages (GPAs), grades from individual professional courses, American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education (AVMA-COE) Competency scores, annual class rank, and North American Veterinary Licensing Exam (NAVLE) scores were collected on all graduating DVM students at Kansas State University in 2009 and 2010. Associations among the collected data were compared by Pearson correlation. Pre-veterinary admissions criteria infrequently correlated with annual GPAs of Years 1-3, rarely correlated with the AVMA-COE Competencies, and never correlated with the annual GPA of Year 4. Low positive correlations occurred between the NAVLE and the Verbal Graduate Record Examination (GRE) (r=.214), Total GRE (r=.171), and the mean GPA of pre-professional science courses (SGPA) (r=.236). Annual GPAs strongly correlated with didactic course scores. Annual GPAs and final class rank strongly correlated (mean r=-.849), and both strongly correlated with the NAVLE score (NAVLE: GPAs mean r=.628, NAVLE: final class rank r=-.714). Annual GPAs at the end of Years 1-4 weakly correlated or did not correlate with the AVMA-COE Competencies. The AVMA-COE Competencies weakly correlated with scores earned in didactic courses of Years 1-3. AVMA-COE Competencies were internally consistent (mean r=.796) but only moderately correlated with performance on the NAVLE (mean r=.319). Low correlations between admissions criteria and outcomes indicate a need to reevaluate admission criteria as predictors of school success. If the NAVLE remains the primary discriminator for veterinary licensure (and the gateway to professional activity), then the AVMA-COE Competencies should be refined to better improve and reflect the NAVLE, or the NAVLE examination should change to reflect AVMA-COE Competencies.

An Anatomy Pre-Course Predicts Student Performance in a Professional Veterinary Anatomy Curriculum

“…This can explain why undergraduate coursework rarely correlates with performance within professional veterinary curricula (5)(6)(7)(8). This precourse follows a format that closely mimics what the students will experience within their professional anatomy coursework, and thereby gives them an opportunity to determine whether their established study techniques will be applicable and effective in the new learning environment.…”

“…Often measures relied on in this stage include appraisal of the applicants' prior coursework. Previous research, including work by the co-authors, found minimal, if any, direct correlation between prior undergraduate coursework and performance within a professional veterinary curriculum (5)(6)(7)(8). Studies of professional human medical curricula, however, have identified that students with previous classroom experience in anatomy, histology, or other basic science courses are likely to have improved performance within the professional human medical curriculum (9,10).…”

An anatomy precourse enhances student learning in veterinary anatomy

“…Previous studies have attempted to identify a correlation between undergraduate coursework and performance within a professional veterinary curriculum, however little to no correlations have been identified (Rush et al, ; Kogan et al, ; Roush et al, ). The reason for this lack of correlation may be due to several factors, including large differences between colleges and universities (Rush et al, ; Kogan et al, ), and content of courses offered at each institution.…”

Predictive Value of Veterinary Student Application Data for Class Rank at End of Year 1

“…Finally, for the combined dataset (337 student rankings among 3 years), we chose to conduct a stepwise regression of CREY1 vs. each GPA, GRE, and science course variable. Multiple linear regression [MLR] was then used to develop a formula to predict CREY1 [PredCR] based only on the predictors that entered the stepwise regression model, but did not exit the model from satisfying the Bayesian information criterion (BIC) for model term removal [ 6 ].…”

“…A low score on the GRE has been associated with increased risk of academic difficulty among veterinary students, including students graduating with a cumulative GPA in the lower 10th of their class, students who experienced academic delay, and dismissal for academic reasons [ 5 ]. Roush et al similarly found a positive correlation between the GRE score and GPA of veterinary students in years 1–3 of the professional curriculum, but not year 4 [ 6 ].…”