Last week my colleague Petros shared some details on the MCAT and applications from the recent AAMC Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. Today I’d like to follow up with a few additional notes that, while they might not impact your students in the immediate future, could have a big impact on students before too long. Of course, keep in mind that these posts have covered just a few of the topics covered at the Annual Meeting – for a more complete list of topics and to watch recordings of some of the major sessions, please visit the AAMC’s Learn – Serve – Lead website.
Situational Judgement Tests
One of the emerging topics in admissions is the Situational Judgment Test (SJT), which is gaining popularity and may become a standard part of the admissions process for many professional schools. A situational judgment test is a standardized test in which the examinee is presented with scenarios that describe a competency-relevant problem or a challenge that requires a solution; the various responses describe realistic actions that could be taken to handle the situation. In the medical community, SJTs focus on professional dilemmas that involve non-cognitive attributes in complex scenarios – things like showing empathy, maintaining integrity, coping with pressure, and working with teams; in some instances, SJT items have been described as “similar to written MMI (Multiple Mini Interview) prompts.”
As you may know, the AAMC debated about adding a section called Personal Characteristics to MCAT 2015; this section would essentially have been an SJT, but research at the time was not strong enough to validate adding such a section. However, the AAMC is still exploring this test, and began research on SJTs in January of this year by selecting a vendor and generating a large number of items. Over the next five years, the AAMC will research the validity of this kind of test, potential costs, and many other aspects of SJTs. They are interested in potentially launching an SJT for pre-medical students in 2019, although it is unclear at this time if this would be a section added to the MCAT or if it would be a separate part of the medical admissions process.
Post-Baccalaureate Programs
Post-baccalaureate programs were another significant topic at this year’s annual meeting, and with good reason: Kaplan’s 2013 Medical School Admissions Officer survey revealed that 71% of medical schools reported an increase in the number of applicants who have enrolled in post-bacc programs. Moreover, with 90% of admissions officers surveyed stating that doing well in such a program would improve the applicants chances of acceptance, we can only assume that these programs will become more and more popular – especially with the new content being added to the MCAT in 2015. So what does that mean for post-bacc programs and the students considering them? One of the big takeaways from the AAMC meeting was that the programs themselves are seeking to better collaborate with one another and align their goals. A collaborative has been established within the AAMC’s Group on Student Affairs (GSA) to specifically address questions on curriculum and issues of student recruitment and retention, mainly among programs geared towards students from groups underrepresented in medicine.
In a similar vein, research on the success of students engaging in post-bacc programs is becoming a focus of many institutions. While several studies are currently underway, attendees at the meeting focused on one in particular: a study published in the February 2011 issue of Academic Medicine exploring the characteristics of post-bacc students who successfully matriculated to medical school. While the results of the paper were varied, one point was clear: students who participated in post-bacc programs were more likely to plan to practice in medically underserved areas, making them desirable candidates to medical schools with a similar mission.
