Use of cross-institutional progress test as a predictor of performance in a new medical college.
BACKGROUND
The progress test was initiated by Qassim University in 2000 as a tool to evaluate the educational process among Saudi medical colleges. Princess Nourah Bint Abdul Rahman University (PNU) College of Medicine is a new medical college established in 2012 that implemented the same innovative reformed curriculum of King Saud University College of Medicine.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to use the progress test to evaluate the rate of knowledge acquisition among a new medical school compared to other long-established medical schools in Saudi Arabia.


METHODS
As part of an ongoing strategy, the progress test was administered before the end of the academic year. Students in PNU were enrolled for 2 years in the progress test. We compared the mean progress test scores for PNU students compared to students at comparable stages in other medical schools in Saudi Arabia.


RESULTS
The results showed that the rate of knowledge acquisition was similar in students at PNU to students in other well-established medical schools in Saudi Arabia.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study showed that the interinstitutional progress test demonstrated that the level of acquisition of knowledge and performance of students in a new medical school was similar to other medical colleges in Saudi Arabia.
Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Mona M
MM
Soliman
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; College of Medicine, Princess Nourah Bint Abdul Rahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ghadeer K
GK
Al-Shaikh
Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Sami A
SA
Alnassar
evaluation; medical student; progress test