The ability of the pre-admission criteria to predict performance in a Saudi medical school.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the ability of preadmission criteria used in most health professional schools in Saudi Arabia to predict the in-program performance.


METHODS
This retrospective cohort study was conducted at King Fahd Medical City, Faculty of Medicine, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between July and September 2008. Four sets were used to examine the predictive power of preadmission variables. The variables are the academic abilities (high school grades), aptitude test, achievement test, and an interview. The criterion variables were the undergraduate grade point averages' (GPAs) of medical college students (n=193). The correlation between admission variables and the GPA was examined using Pearson's correlation coefficient and regression analyses.


RESULTS
Inclusion of all 4 admission tools in a regression analysis as predictors of GPA performance revealed that only the achievement test was statistically predictive of the GPA. Approximately 6.5% of variance in the GPA can be accounted for by the current admission criteria.


CONCLUSIONS
The current admission criteria provide some insight into the predicted future performance of students. The inclusion of other valid and reliable admissions tools, such as the multiple mini-interviews and the questionnaire for candidate's suitability to follow a problem-based learning curriculum, should be considered.
Al-Rukban
Mohammad O
MO
Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, King Saud University, PO Box 91678, Riyadh 11643, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. mrukban@hotmail.com
Munshi
Fadi M
FM
Abdulghani
Hamza M
HM
Al-Hoqail
Ibrahim
I
D000328:Adult; D001077:Aptitude Tests; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D018794:Problem-Based Learning; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D012570:School Admission Criteria; D012577:Schools, Medical