title: Selection of medical students for graduate training: pass/fail versus grades.
abstract: We analyzed the performance of two cohorts of surgical residents: one from "pass/fail" and the other from "graded" medical schools. A performance index indicates that the group from graded schools performed significantly better (P less than 0.001). No resident from a pass/fail institution ranked above the 87th percentile, and this group accounted for 82 per cent of those ranking below the 15th percentile. A residency training program that seeks excellence among its trainees would do well to select preferentially students who apply from medical schools providing a specific class standing as part of the total evaluation of the student. It is suggested that the pass/fail controversy is symbolic of the erosion of standards that inevitably occurs when the university becomes involved in transient sociopolitical turmoil.
mesh_terms: D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000592:standards; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000592:standards; D004521:Educational Measurement; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D007396:Internship and Residency; D014481:United States