Undergraduate Rigor Scores: Do They Predict Achievement in Veterinary School?

The relations between potential indicators of undergraduate rigor and subsequent achievement in professional school are not clear; some studies have shown that greater undergraduate selectivity is associated with greater achievement in medical science programs, while others have not. We sought to determine the extent to which indicators of undergraduate rigor were associated with achievement in veterinary school. Participants were graduates from three cohorts. The predictors were undergraduate GPA (UGPA), plus five rigor scores-degree or number of undergraduate credits, number of honors courses, number of withdrawals from or repeats of prerequisite science courses, number of part-time semesters, and ratio of community college credits to total college credits. The outcomes were the veterinary medicine cumulative GPA (CVM GPA), Qualifying Exam scores, and North American Veterinary Licensing Exam scores. Using correlations corrected for range restriction, we regressed each outcome on the five rigor scores and UGPA for each of the three graduating cohorts. In most cases, indicators of undergraduate rigor did not predict subsequent achievement in veterinary school; however, in two comparisons, number of honors courses taken as an undergraduate predicted subsequent achievement. UGPA, as expected, predicted CVM GPA. Admissions committees may want to reevaluate whether they include undergraduate rigor when considering admission to their programs, with the caveat that our findings are specific to our institution and are not generalizable.

What Do You Want in a Marriage? Examining Marriage Ideals in Taiwan and the United States.

Four studies investigated ideal standards for one's marital partner and relationship held by Taiwan Chinese and European Americans. We first generated a list of attributes that tapped lay representations of marriage ideals based on free responses from Chinese and European Americans, and we uncovered attributes describing extended family that were overlooked in Western research (Study 1). We found similar ideal knowledge structures across the two cultural groups; importantly, Chinese prioritized ideals denoting financial resources and extended family to a greater extent than did European Americans (Study 2). These cultural differences were explained by interdependent self-construal (Study 3). Finally, the agreement between ideals and perceptions of current partner/relationship was related to positive relationship outcomes in both cultural groups (Study 4). Our research highlights both cultural similarities and differences in the content, structure, endorsement, and evaluative functions of ideals in Chinese and Western cultural contexts.

A study of depression and anxiety, general health, and academic performance in three cohorts of veterinary medical students across the first three semesters of veterinary school.

This study builds on previous research on predictors of depression and anxiety in veterinary medical students and reports data on three veterinary cohorts from two universities through their first three semesters of study. Across all three semesters, 49%, 65%, and 69% of the participants reported depression levels at or above the clinical cut-off, suggesting a remarkably high percentage of students experiencing significant levels of depression symptoms. Further, this study investigated the relationship between common stressors experienced by veterinary students and mental health, general health, and academic performance. A factor analysis revealed four factors among stressors common to veterinary students: academic stress, transitional stress, family-health stress, and relationship stress. The results indicated that both academic stress and transitional stress had a robust impact on veterinary medical students' well-being during their first three semesters of study. As well, academic stress negatively impacted students in the areas of depression and anxiety symptoms, life satisfaction, general health, perception of academic performance, and grade point average (GPA). Transitional stress predicted increased depression and anxiety symptoms and decreased life satisfaction. This study helped to further illuminate the magnitude of the problem of depression and anxiety symptoms in veterinary medical students and identified factors most predictive of poor outcomes in the areas of mental health, general health, and academic performance. The discussion provides recommendations for considering structural changes to veterinary educational curricula to reduce the magnitude of academic stressors. Concurrently, recommendations are suggested for mental health interventions to help increase students' resistance to environmental stressors.

Predictors of employer satisfaction: technical and non-technical skills.

Employers of 2007-2009 graduates from Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine were asked to respond to a survey regarding their overall satisfaction with their new employees as well as their new employees' preparation in several technical and non-technical skill areas. Seventy-five responses contained complete data and were used in the analysis. Four technical skill areas (data collection, data interpretation, planning, and taking action) and five non-technical skill areas (interpersonal skills, ability to deal with legal issues, business skills, making referrals, and problem solving) were identified. All of the skill area subscales listed above had appropriate reliability (Cronbach's alpha>0.70) and were positively and significantly correlated with overall employer satisfaction. Results of two simultaneous regression analyses indicated that of the four technical skill areas, taking action is the most salient predictor of employer satisfaction. Of the five non-technical skill areas, interpersonal skills, business skills, making referrals, and problem solving were the most important skills in predicting employer satisfaction. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that all technical skills explained 25% of the variation in employer satisfaction; non-technical skills explained an additional 42% of the variation in employer satisfaction.

Relationships among common measures of student performance and scores on the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination.

OBJECTIVE: To determine relationships among several common measures of performance prior to and during veterinary school (ie, Graduate Record Examination [GRE] scores, undergraduate grade point average [UGPA], Qualifying Examination [QE] scores, overall grade point average during veterinary school [VGPA], and scores for the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination [NAVLE]). DESIGN: Longitudinal retrospective study. SAMPLE POPULATION: 192 students from the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine and 152 students from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. PROCEDURES: Student UGPA, VGPA, and GRE score data were gathered during the normal admissions and academic processes. The QE was administered as a low-stakes examination at both institutions for the purposes of curricular assessment. Scores on the NAVLE were provided with student permission by the National Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners. Path analysis was used to explore hypothesized relationships among variables. RESULTS: GRE scores and UGPA predicted NAVLE scores indirectly through QE scores and VGPA, whereas QE scores and VGPA directly predicted NAVLE scores. The resulting models explained 58% to 62% of the variance in NAVLE scores, with QE score being the strongest predictor. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results indicated that for veterinary school students, GRE scores, UGPA, VGPA, and QE scores could be used to predict scores on the NAVLE. This suggests that these measures could prove useful to veterinary schools when admitting students or preparing them for the NAVLE.