How Postbaccalaureate Career Changer and Traditional Medical Students Differ Academically.

OBJECTIVE: This retrospective descriptive study compared the academic performance of postbaccalaureate career changer students with that of traditional students during the classroom-based, science-dominated early years of medical school. Earlier studies documented the eventual success of nontraditional medical students, although we found little information specific to the medical school performance of career changers. Our objective was to determine whether postbaccalaureate career changer medical students perform differently from traditionally prepared medical students in the science-dominated early years of medical school classroom education. METHODS: This study analyzed the admission data and academic performance of medical students at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine across 8 years (N = 630). Differences in performance were assessed using examination grades from the first 2 years of medical school, and US Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 and Step 2 scores. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were found between traditional and career changer students for all science modules in year 1, and 4 of the 5 modules in year 2. Traditional students performed better on USMLE Step 1. Significant differences between the groups disappeared by USMLE Step 2. CONCLUSIONS: Career changer medical students show a small, persistent academic lag in the first 2 years of medical school and on USMLE Step 1 scores. By USMLE Step 2 the difference disappears. Similar undergraduate grade point averages and Medical College Admission Test scores suggest that science exposure, not ability may explain these differences. An unexpected finding is the number of career changer students is not increasing proportional to the proliferation of postbaccalaureate programs in the United States. This study may benefit student advisors and residency directors, and, it is hoped, provide reassurance to career changer students.

Using Assessment Point Accumulation as a Guide to Identify Students at Risk for Interrupted Academic Progress.

PROBLEM: Interruptions in academic progress (IP) are problematic for students and educational programs alike. Early identification of students at risk for IP, to provide remediation, could be beneficial. APPROACH: Considering the clinically familiar pediatric growth curve as a metaphor, researchers hypothesized they could identify students at risk of IP. They organized course-related examination performance data for 518 students in five classes (2013-2014 through 2017-2018), adding students' percentage scores cumulatively over time. At every examination point, they analyzed the data for dis-tribution and calculated a mean class score. They plotted each student's accumulated points and accommodated a linear fit. Using the mean of the class as the horizontal axis, students gaining points against the mean show a positive slope; conversely, students losing points reveal a negative slope. The authors compared their findings against students who had faced IP-those who had repeated at least one course or an academic year, or who had left medical school. OUTCOMES: Using a receiver operating characteristic approach, the authors identified a slope of -5 as an excellent screening test with 85% accuracy (sensitivity = 82%, specificity = 86%, area under curve = 0.917). Of 38 students facing IP, 25 would have been identified at risk for IP as early as the fifth assessment using a slope of -5. NEXT STEPS: Given the outcomes of this innovative, inexpensive, highly accurate approach to identifying students at risk of IP, the authors have plans to optimize interventions and to validate the approach at other programs.