ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To test the hypothesis that family financial status is associated with the academic performance of a medical student. METHOD: The relationships between parental income and mean scores on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 were examined for the students in the 1994 and 1995 graduating classes at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School who had applied for financial aid in 1991 and reported annual parental income. Pearson correlations were used to analyze separately the data for minority and majority students, for men and women, and for the four subgroups by gender and race-ethnicity. RESULTS: The final study cohort consisted of 192 students (55% of all students). Significant positive correlations were found between the (1) MCAT and USMLE Step 1 for the women, men, majority, and minority students, (2) MCAT and parental income for the subgroups of majority men and minority women, and (3) USMLE Step 1 and parental income for the subgroup of minority women. CONCLUSION: Parental income was correlated significantly with performances on the MCAT and USMLE Step 1. These relationships may be particularly strong and persistent for minority women.
Subject(s)
Educational Status , Income , Students, Medical , Cohort Studies , Educational Measurement , Ethnicity , Female , Humans , Male , Minority Groups , Parents , Sex FactorsABSTRACT
A discriminant analysis of objective and subjective measures from the records of 628 students who graduated from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School over a six-year period was used to generate a model for the prediction of medical specialty choice. The authors found that National Board of Medical Examiners Part II examination scores, sex, race, grades given by preceptors, and a score derived from narrative comments by preceptors during clinical experiences in psychiatry contained information for predicting such a choice. With this model, the correct prediction rate for all specialties was 41 percent. The correct prediction rate for individual specialties ranged from a low of 28 percent for family practice to a high of 68 percent for psychiatry.
