Poor predictive validity of admission test for medical students’ academic performance

January 01, 0001

Poor predictive validity of admission test for medical students’ academic performance

The aim of this study by researchers from Australia was to determine the predictive validity of the Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test (UMAT) for academic performance at university. They studied all 339 students who entered medical study at the School of Medicine, University of Queensland, directly from high school, between 2005 and 2009.

Mean overall UMAT score at entry was 60/100 and mean GPA during university study was 6.1. This relationship existed only in the first year of university study. UMAT overall score for men (60.2) and women (59.8), and GPA for men (6.1) and women (6.2) were similar. In multivariate analysis, only correlation between GPA and UMAT Section 1 score remained significant but was weak and lasted for 1 year of university study.

The researchers concluded: "Our findings suggest that UMAT has limited predictive validity for academic performance."

This is part of the ongoing problem of who gets into medical school.


For the full abstract, click here.

MJA 194(7):341-344, 4 April 2011 © The Medical Journal of Australia 2011
Predictive validity of the Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test for medical students’ academic performance. David Wilkinson, Jianzhen Zhang and Malcolm Parker. Correspondence to Jianzhen Zhang: [email protected]

Category: PT. Professional Training. Keywords: admission test, medical students, academic performance, predictive value, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Stephen Wilkinson, Melbourne, Australia. Posted on Global Family Doctor 12 April 2011

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.

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