title: Relationships among common measures of student performance and scores on the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine relationships among several common measures of performance prior to and during veterinary school (ie, Graduate Record Examination [GRE] scores, undergraduate grade point average [UGPA], Qualifying Examination [QE] scores, overall grade point average during veterinary school [VGPA], and scores for the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination [NAVLE]).
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal retrospective study.
  
  
  METHODS
  192 students from the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine and 152 students from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine.
  
  
  METHODS
  Student UGPA, VGPA, and GRE score data were gathered during the normal admissions and academic processes. The QE was administered as a low-stakes examination at both institutions for the purposes of curricular assessment. Scores on the NAVLE were provided with student permission by the National Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners. Path analysis was used to explore hypothesized relationships among variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  GRE scores and UGPA predicted NAVLE scores indirectly through QE scores and VGPA, whereas QE scores and VGPA directly predicted NAVLE scores. The resulting models explained 58% to 62% of the variance in NAVLE scores, with QE score being the strongest predictor.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results indicated that for veterinary school students, GRE scores, UGPA, VGPA, and QE scores could be used to predict scores on the NAVLE. This suggests that these measures could prove useful to veterinary schools when admitting students or preparing them for the NAVLE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA. jadaniel@iastate.edu
authors.forename: Jared A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Danielson
authors.forename: Tsui-Feng
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Laura K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Molgaard
authors.forename: Vanessa A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Preast
mesh_terms: D004520:Education, Veterinary / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D007484:Iowa; D008004:Licensure / Q000592:standards*; D008910:Minnesota; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*