The relationship between reading scores on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and scores on the Nelson-Denny Reading Test (NDRT) was investigated, along with the tests' predictive validities for medical school achievement. Although NDRT was better as a single predictor of achievement, it has limitations as a predictive device. (SW)

A study that addressed the question of whether coaching for the MCAT biases the relationship between test performance and medical school performance is described. The criterion used was whether or not a student experienced academic problems in medical school. (MLW)

The validity of the Medical College Admission (MCAT), undergraduate grade-point average (GPA), and "competitiveness" of undergraduate college in predicting the performance of students at a predominantly black college of medicine was examined. No differences between men and women were found in the validity of MCAT scores and GPA.…

The results of a predictive validity study of the new Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) using criteria from the clinical years of undergraduate medical education are discussed. The criteria included course grades and faculty ratings of clerks in internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, and psychiatry. (Author/MLW)

The process for completing four national questionnaires was analyzed following site visits and detailed documentation at each of six representative medical schools. A number of problems with the process were found that inhibited the provision of reliable data. Corrective action for institutions and sponsoring agencies are suggested. (Editor/LBH)

The changes in existing specialties and the demographic composition of medical school classes suggested that the predictive validity of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator should be reexamined. MBTI scores of students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine were cross-tabulated with their specialty choice. (MLW)

Results of tests done on 48 first-year students entering the Quillen-Dishner College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University suggest that ambiguity may be present in Kolb's learning styles classification system and that further validity studies need to be conducted. (MLW)

The relative utility of premedical grade point average in distinguishing among prospective medical students and predicting medical school performance was evaluated in students from two medical school graduating classes. The measure was found susceptible to several extraneous sources of variance that negate its effectiveness. (MSE)

A test instrument for assessing the preferences medical students show for six value categories (aesthetic, economic, political, religious, social, and theoretical) was developed using a case-study approach. Validation was by comparison of medical ethics and general values in nonmedical students. Further research on the social values category is…

The In-Training Evaluation Report (ITER), in use by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada for examining the competencies of candidates eligible for the certifying examination, was tested for validity and reliability. This analysis suggests revisions but declares the ITEA a useful instrument to aid in candidate assessment. (JT)

Two multiple-choice scoring schemes--a partial credit scheme and a dichotomous approach--were compared analyzing means, variances, and reliabilities on alternate measures and student reactions. Students preferred the partial-credit approach, which is recommended if rewarding for partial knowledge is an important concern. (Editor/JT)

A study of the use of "dangerous answers" as a scoring method for certification examinations in anesthesiology concluded that selection of dangerous answers in multiple-choice tests results from lack of information rather than purposeful action, and that implementation of the scoring method is unjustified and unfairly punitive. (MSE)

The relationship of National Board of Medical Examiners Part III examination performance for first-year residents with performance on medical school preadmission measures, performance on prior NBME examinations, and clinical performance during medical school was examined. (Author/MLW)

Comparisons of 1983 data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) graduation survey with data on the third-year residencies reveal that the specialty preferences indicated were predictors of residency programs the respondents were in during the third year following graduation. (Author/MLW)

Reference letters are an important method of selecting applicants to a postgraduate residency program. A study to test the predictive validity of all reference letters, not only those written by deans, is discussed. Results showed that reference letters did not predict resident performance and little useful information was contained in them. (MLW)