How do Australian Doctors with Different Pre-medical School Backgrounds Perform as Interns?

Abstract

The records of 173 (73% of eligible sample) were included in the analyses. There were no significant differences between the mean ratings of interns with respect to previous educational background, subjects studied at secondary school or degree undertaken. Age and gender did not significantly affect performance ratings.

The influence of admissions variables on first year medical school performance: a study from Newcastle University, Australia

“…Although age was related to progression, this difference was not evident by the end of the first academic year. This result is consistent with other research and supports the view that students entering medical school from secondary and tertiary backgrounds are highly academically capable, and there is little difference in the success of these groups of students in medicine 6 , 10 …”

“…The curriculum includes problem‐based learning strategies, integration of the clinical and basic sciences, and emphasis on community medicine and self‐directed learning. Newcastle has a unique selection strategy; admitting students from tertiary and secondary institutions, different cultural backgrounds, broader age ranges and a wider academic spectrum than some other Australian medical schools 10 . The admissions criteria provide opportunities for entry into the course by high academic achievers (`academic entry' when combined with an interview), those with appropriate personal qualities (`composite' entry), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and full fee paying overseas applicants.…”

Intellectual aptitude tests and A levels for selecting UK school leaver entrants for medical school

“…A clear test of the need for substantive content will occur should medical schools choose to admit students without A level chemistry, as has been suggested, w12 or perhaps without any science subjects. If students with only arts A levels perform as well as those with science A levels, then the substantive content of A levels is unimportant—and there are suggestions that arts and humanities subjects independently predict outcome 13. w13 …”

Relationship between admission grades and performances of students in the first professional examination in a new medical school

“…This is one of the problems faced by the colleges of Medicine in Nigeria where class size has multiplied many fold in the recent years. This makes the admission process an important factor in student performance (Bamgboye et al 2001, Ayeni 1972, Grey et al 2001.…”