GAMSAT

BACKGROUND: Given the importance of the selection process, many medical schools are reviewing their selection criteria. The traditional pathway for post-graduate medicine has been from science-based undergraduate degrees, however some programs are expanding their criteria. In this study we investigated academic success across all years and themes of the Deakin University medical degree, based on the type of degree undertaken prior to admission. We evaluated whether the traditional pathway of biomedical science into medicine should remain the undergraduate degree of choice, or whether other disciplines should be encouraged...

Medical schools in the UK typically use prior academic attainment and an admissions test (University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT), Biomedical Admissions Test (BMAT) or the Graduate Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT)) to help select applicants for interview. To justify their use, more information is needed about the predictive validity of these tests. Thus, we investigated the relationship between performance in admissions tests and the Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS) examination.The UKMED database (https://www...

BACKGROUND: Little research has compared the profile, success, or specialty destinations of graduates entering UK medical schools via accelerated, 4-yr, standard 5-yr and 6-yr programmes. Four research questions directed this investigation:- What are the success rates for graduates entering graduate-entry vs. undergraduate medicine courses? How does the sociodemographic and educational profile differ between these two groups? Is success - in medical school and foundation training - dependent on prior degree, demographic factors, or aptitude test performance at selection? What specialty do graduate entry medicine students subsequently enter? METHODS: The data from two cohorts of graduates entering medical school in 2007 and 2008 (n = 2761) in the UKMED (UK Medical Education Database) database were studied: 1445 taking 4-yr and 1150 taking 5-yr medicine courses, with smaller numbers following other programmes...

The wrong acknowledgement and funding information were provided in the original publication.

Written tests for selection into medicine have demonstrated reliability and there is accumulating evidence regarding their validity, but we know little about the broader impacts or consequences of medical school selection tests from the perspectives of key stakeholders. In this first Australian study of its kind, we use consequential validity as a theoretical lens to examine how medical school students and applicants view and experience the Graduate Medical Schools Admission Test (GAMSAT), and the consequences of testing...

Context: Monash University and the University of Western Australia admit both school-leavers and graduates into their Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) courses. The Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test (UMAT) and the Graduate Medical Schools Admissions Test (GAMSAT) are used for selection, along with an academic score and an interview score. The aim of this study was to compare the relative predictive validity of the selected components in the two entry streams, particularly UMAT versus GAMSAT...

OBJECTIVES: Differential attainment in school examinations is one of the barriers to increasing student diversity in medicine. However, studies on the predictive validity of prior academic achievement and educational performance at medical school are contradictory, possibly due to single-site studies or studies which focus only on early years' performance. To address these gaps, we examined the relationship between sociodemographic factors, including school type and average educational performance throughout medical school across a large number of diverse medical programmes...

BACKGROUND: Medical student selection and assessment share an underlying high stakes context with the need for valid and reliable tools. This study examined the predictive validity of three tools commonly used in Australia: previous academic performance (Grade Point Average (GPA)), cognitive aptitude (a national admissions test), and non-academic qualities of prospective medical students (interview). METHODS: A four year retrospective cohort study was conducted at Flinders University Australia involving 382 graduate entry medical students first enrolled between 2006 and 2009...

BACKGROUND: The Graduate Australian Medical Schools Admission Test (GAMSAT) is undertaken annually in centres around Australia and a small number of overseas locations. Most Australian graduate entry medical schools also use Grade Point Average and interview score for selection. The aim of this study was to review the performance of the GAMSAT over the last 10 years; the study provides an analysis of the impact of candidates' gender, age, language background, level of academic qualification and background discipline on performance; and details on the performance of higher-scoring candidates...

BACKGROUND: The Graduate Australian Medical Schools Admission Test (GAMSAT) is undertaken annually in centres around Australia and a small number of overseas locations. Most Australian graduate entry medical schools also use Grade Point Average and interview score for selection. The aim of this study was to review the performance of the GAMSAT over the last 10 years; the study provides an analysis of the impact of candidates' gender, age, language background, level of academic qualification and background discipline on performance; and details on the performance of higher-scoring candidates...

BACKGROUND: Predictive validity studies for selection criteria into graduate entry courses in Australia have been inconsistent in their outcomes. One of the reasons for this inconsistency may have been failure to have adequately considered background disciplines of the graduates as well as other potential confounding socio-demographic variables that may influence academic performance. METHODS: Graduate entrants into the MBBS at The University of Western Australia between 2005 and 2012 were studied (N = 421)...

OBJECTIVE: To report, and determine reasons for, a change in the gender ratio observed among enrolled medical students after removal of the interview from the selection process. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Cross-sectional study of 4051 students admitted to the medical program at the University of Queensland between 2004 and 2012. Students are enrolled either directly as graduates or via a school-leaver pathway. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Change in proportions of male and female students over time, and gender-specific scores in the three sections of the GAMSAT (Graduate Medical School Admissions Test)...

BACKGROUND: 10-15% of students struggle at some point in their medicine course. Risk factors include weaker academic qualifications, male gender, mental illness, UK ethnic minority status, and poor study skills. Recent research on an undergraduate medicine course provided a toolkit to aid early identification of students likely to struggle, who can be targeted by established support and study interventions. The present study sought to extend this work by investigating the number and characteristics of strugglers on a graduate-entry medicine (GEM) programme...

BACKGROUND: Graduate entry medicine raises new questions about the suitability of students with different backgrounds. We examine this, and the broader issue of effectiveness of selection and assessment procedures. METHODS: The data included background characteristics, academic record, interview score and performance in pre-clinical modular assessment for two years intake of graduate entry medical students. Exploratory factor analysis is a powerful method for reducing a large number of measures to a smaller group of underlying factors...

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether the four criteria used by the University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) to select medical students are successful in selecting for graduates with the desired outcomes of academic excellence and Catholic "mission fit". DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Prospective cohort study of medical students selected for 2008 and 2009 entry to UNDA in Sydney, New South Wales. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The statistical association between the two academic selection criteria of the Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT) and grade point average (GPA) compared with the outcome of medical school examination performance, and the two mission selection criteria of a portfolio score and interview score compared with the outcome of a positive attitude towards serving underserved communities as measured using the Medical Student Attitudes Toward the Underserved (MSATU) test...

CONTEXT: This paper examines the criterion validity of the Graduate Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT), which has been used since 1996 in Australia and more recently in the UK and Ireland. The study provides evidence on the extent to which GAMSAT, in combination with grade point average (GPA) and interview scores, adds value to determining an individual's capability for medical study. The study responds to increasing demand for information on the validity of selection processes. Criterion validity is important because it helps to empirically situate selection tests within their broader contexts by, for instance, providing an assurance to educators and the public that test results are valid and add value to selection decisions...

OBJECTIVE: To assess how well prior academic performance, admission tests, and interviews predict academic performance in a graduate medical school. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Analysis of academic performance of 706 students in three consecutive cohorts of the 4-year graduate-entry medical program at the University of Queensland. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Proportion of academic performance during the medical program explained by selection criteria, and correlation between selection criteria and performance...

CONTEXT: We wished to determine which factors are important in ensuring interviewers are able to make reliable and valid decisions about the non-cognitive characteristics of candidates when selecting candidates for entry into a graduate-entry medical programme using the multiple mini-interview (MMI). METHODS: Data came from a high-stakes admissions procedure. Content validity was assured by using a framework based on international criteria for sampling the behaviours expected of entry-level students...

BACKGROUND: The first graduate-entry programmes to Irish medicine were established at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and the University of Limerick (UL) in 2007. There were over 400 applications across both institutions and 306 people sat a special aptitude test (GAMSAT) in Ireland in 2007. Ultimately, 61 Irish/EU students were admitted to one or other programme. AIMS AND METHODS: We describe the demographic profile, academic background and aggregated GAMSAT performance of 306 people who sat GAMSAT in Ireland in 2007 and of the 61 people admitted to the RCSI/UL programmes...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between medical school applicants' performances in the Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT) and structured interviews and their subsequent performance in medical school. DESIGN: Students in Years 2-4 of two graduate-entry medical programs were invited to complete two previously validated tests of clinical reasoning. These results and their Year 2 examination results were compared with their previous performance in GAMSAT and at interview...