title: Trial use of the Personal Qualities Assessment (PQA) in the entrance examination of a Japanese medical university: similarities to the results in western countries.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Personal Qualities Assessment (PQA), developed by the University of Newcastle, Australia to assess the aptitude of future medical professionals, has been used in Western countries.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective was to investigate whether the PQA is appropriate for Japanese medical school applicants.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two of the PQA tests, Libertarian-Dual-Communitarian moral orientations (Mojac) and Narcissism, Aloofness, Confidence, and Empathy (NACE), were translated into Japanese, and administered at the Tokyo Women's Medical University entrance examinations from 2007 to 2009.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The distributions of the applicants' Mojac and NACE scores were close to the normal distribution, and the mean scores did not exhibit a large difference from those in Western countries. The only significant difference was that the mean score of the NACE test was slightly lower than the Western norm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The translated PQA tests may be appropriate for use with Japanese applicants, though further research considering cultural differences is required.
authors.affiliation: a Tokyo Women's Medical University, School of Medicine , Tokyo , Japan.
authors.forename: Yuriko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fukui
authors.forename: Saeko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Noda
authors.forename: Midori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Nakako
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mihara
authors.forename: Yoriko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawakami
authors.forename: Miles
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bore
authors.forename: Don
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Munro
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Powis
mesh_terms: D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012570:School Admission Criteria; D012577:Schools, Medical; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: entrance examination; medical professional; personal qualities assessment (PQA); sociocultural background