Medical school admissions: enhancing the reliability and validity of an autobiographical screening tool.
BACKGROUND
Most medical school applicants are screened out preinterview. Some cognitive scores available preinterview and some noncognitive scores available at interview demonstrate reasonable reliability and predictive validity. A reliable preinterview noncognitive measure would relax dependence upon screening based entirely on cognitive tendencies.


METHODS
In 2005, applicants interviewing at McMaster University's Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine completed an offsite, noninvigilated, Autobiographical Submission (ABS) preinterview and another onsite, invigilated, ABS at interview. Traditional and new ABS scoring methods were compared, with raters either evaluating all ABS questions for each candidate in turn (vertical scoring-traditional method) or evaluating all candidates for each question in turn (horizontal scoring-new method).


RESULTS
The new scoring method revealed lower internal consistency and higher interrater reliability relative to the traditional method. More importantly, the new scoring method correlated better with the Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI) relative to the traditional method.


CONCLUSIONS
The new ABS scoring method revealed greater interrater reliability and predictive capacity, thus increasing its potential as a screen for noncognitive characteristics.
Dore
Kelly L
KL
Program for Educational Research and Development, McMaster University, MDCL 3510, 1200 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, L8N 3Z5, Canada. kelly.dore@learnlink.mcmaster.ca
Hanson
Mark
M
Reiter
Harold I
HI
Blanchard
Melanie
M
Deeth
Karen
K
Eva
Kevin W
KW
D001325:Autobiographies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D012570:School Admission Criteria; D012577:Schools, Medical