TY - JOUR
T1 - Application Essays and Future Performance in Medical School
T2 - Are They Related?
AU - Dong, Ting
AU - Kay, Allen
AU - Artino, Anthony R.
AU - Gilliland, William R.
AU - Waechter, Donna M.
AU - Cruess, David
AU - DeZee, Kent J.
AU - Durning, Steven J.
PY - 2013/1
Y1 - 2013/1
N2 - Background: There is a paucity of research on whether application essays are a valid indicator of medical students' future performance. Purpose: The goal is to score medical school application essays systematically and examine the correlations between these essay scores and several indicators of student performance during medical school and internship. Methods: A journalist created a scoring rubric based on the journalism literature and scored 2 required essays of students admitted to our university in 1 year (N = 145). We picked 7 indicators of medical school and internship performance and correlated these measures with overall essay scores: preclinical medical school grade point average (GPA), clinical medical school GPA, cumulative medical school GPA, U.S. Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) Step 1 and 2 scores, and scores on a program director's evaluation measuring intern professionalism and expertise. We then examined the Pearson and Spearman correlations between essay scores and the outcomes. Results: Essay scores did not vary widely. American Medical College Application Service essay scores ranged from 3.3 to 4.5 (M = 4.11, SD = 0.15), and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences essay scores ranged from 2.9 to 4.5 (M = 4.09, SD = 0.17). None of the medical school or internship performance indicators was significantly correlated with the essay scores. Conclusions: These findings raise questions about the utility of matriculation essays, a resource-intensive admission requirement.
AB - Background: There is a paucity of research on whether application essays are a valid indicator of medical students' future performance. Purpose: The goal is to score medical school application essays systematically and examine the correlations between these essay scores and several indicators of student performance during medical school and internship. Methods: A journalist created a scoring rubric based on the journalism literature and scored 2 required essays of students admitted to our university in 1 year (N = 145). We picked 7 indicators of medical school and internship performance and correlated these measures with overall essay scores: preclinical medical school grade point average (GPA), clinical medical school GPA, cumulative medical school GPA, U.S. Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) Step 1 and 2 scores, and scores on a program director's evaluation measuring intern professionalism and expertise. We then examined the Pearson and Spearman correlations between essay scores and the outcomes. Results: Essay scores did not vary widely. American Medical College Application Service essay scores ranged from 3.3 to 4.5 (M = 4.11, SD = 0.15), and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences essay scores ranged from 2.9 to 4.5 (M = 4.09, SD = 0.17). None of the medical school or internship performance indicators was significantly correlated with the essay scores. Conclusions: These findings raise questions about the utility of matriculation essays, a resource-intensive admission requirement.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84876100372&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10401334.2012.741536
DO - 10.1080/10401334.2012.741536
M3 - Article
C2 - 23330895
AN - SCOPUS:84876100372
SN - 1040-1334
VL - 25
SP - 55
EP - 58
JO - Teaching and Learning in Medicine
JF - Teaching and Learning in Medicine
IS - 1
ER -