A program director's guide to the Medical Student Performance Evaluation (former dean's letter) with a database.
OBJECTIVE
The value of the Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE) for a program director is in the information it contains comparing how a student performed in medical school relative to his or her classmates. The Association of American Medical Colleges has recommended that a student's class ranking be included in the summary paragraph of the MSPE and that this information be repeated in a supplementary appendix.


METHODS
The authors reviewed the MSPEs from 1,479 applications for residency training positions. The aim was to determine to what extent and in what manner individual schools reveal how their students perform relative to their peers. The authors then set out to create a database containing this information.


RESULTS
Working from a list of 141 US members of the Association of American Medical Colleges, complete information for 107 schools (76%) and partial information for the remaining 34 schools (24%) was gathered. Only 12 schools (9%) included complete comparative information in the summary section in accordance with the guidelines of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Other schools were in partial compliance or did not comply at all. The database the authors constructed will inform users if comparative information is available, guide users to its location in the MSPE, and explain the meaning of the language different schools use to rank or classify their students.


CONCLUSIONS
The authors recognize that this database is incomplete and that the individual institutions will alter their ranking system from time to time. But this database is offered in an open format so that it can be continuously updated by users.
North Shore-LIJ Health System, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine at North Shore University, Department of Radiology, Manhasset, New York. Electronic address: jnaidich@yahoo.com.
James B
JB
Naidich
North Shore-LIJ Health System, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine at North Shore University, Department of Radiology, Manhasset, New York.
Gregory M
GM
Grimaldi
North Shore-LIJ Health System, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine at North Shore University, Department of Radiology, Manhasset, New York.
Pamela
P
Lombardi
North Shore-LIJ Health System, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine at North Shore University, Department of Radiology, Manhasset, New York.
Lawrence P
LP
Davis
North Shore-LIJ Health System, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine at North Shore University, Department of Radiology, Manhasset, New York.
Jason J
JJ
Naidich
D016208:Databases, Factual; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007857:Leadership; D009518:New York; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States
Dean's letter; MSPE; medical student performance; resident applications; student evaluations