![]() We didn’t even see small statistical differences that might raise concerns.” “For given MCAT scores, students from different groups are as successful in their medical school courses as students from other groups with the same score. For example, based on their MCAT scores, 95% of medical students from groups that are underrepresented in medicine (URM) would be expected to move up - and 94% achieved that milestone. “We didn’t even see small statistical differences that might raise concerns,” he adds.Īnd the test’s ability to predict success was solid in terms of another significant measure: students advancing to year 2 of medical school. So, for example, a white woman with a 505 could be expected to have the same chance of academic success as a black man with a 505. “For given MCAT scores, students from different groups are as successful in their medical school courses as students from other groups with the same score,” says Hanson. When it comes to people of all different races, ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and genders, the new exam predicts medical school success equally well, the research shows. “Admissions committees can be reassured that it makes sense to continue using both the MCAT and GPA.” Is the MCAT exam unfair to certain groups? and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine. “When you look at sources of information, sometimes one alone may do the job, but that’s not the case here,” says Joshua Hanson, MD, MPH, one of the validity paper’s authors and associate dean for student affairs at the University of Texas Health San Antonio Joe R. The results showed that both measures predicted well - but that using the two metrics together worked much better. The researchers also wanted to know whether MCAT scores added value beyond what undergraduate GPAs offer in predicting medical school success. What’s more, numbers crunched since the studies’ publication indicate that the test predicts how well students perform in second-year courses as well as on Step 1 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination, major milestones in moving toward on-time graduation from medical school. “In addition, they found these results at a range of schools that vary in many ways, including their academic missions, applicant pools, teaching practices, and approaches to grading. “The researchers found that, on average, students with higher MCAT scores perform better in their first-year courses,” Searcy explains. The team studied nearly 8,000 students across the country - and did a deeper dive at 16 medical schools to explore performance in courses ranging from medical ethics to molecular biology. Probing the exam’s validity was no simple matter. The researchers report finding a strong relationship between MCAT scores and students’ success in the first year of medical school. Do MCAT scores predict success in medical school? Importantly, the papers also show how schools can use the MCAT exam to support their broader goal of creating the talented, diverse physician workforce that our nation needs.”īelow are some answers to key questions about the test, insights from the experts who spent years studying it, and what’s going to happen next. But the research shows more than that the exam is doing its job. “It’s essential for admissions teams to know that MCAT scores predict success in medical school. ![]() ![]() “After extensive study, the MCAT Validity Committee has several major insights based on examinees who have finished their first year of medical school,” says Cynthia Searcy, PhD, AAMC senior director of MCAT research and development. But the research shows more than that the exam is doing its job.” Now, for the first time, they’ve published their results in four Academic Medicine papers. Since then, a team of researchers has been exploring whether the updated test accurately predicts success in medical school, how well underrepresented groups fare on it, and much more. So, in 2015 the AAMC redesigned the exam, adding new topics and skills that applicants need to tackle medical school and 21st century medicine: biochemistry, psychology, sociology, and scientific reasoning. That means the test must do its job well. ![]() Each year, some 90,000 aspiring doctors take the MCAT ® exam, and scores of admissions teams comb through the results as part of their search for talented future physicians. ![]()
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