Gathering validity evidence in the use of multiple mini-interviews as an admission tool for dental students: Preliminary evidence from Saudi Arabia.

AIMS: This study examined the validity evidence of noncognitive skills of incoming students in the Faculty of Dentistry at King Abdulaziz University using multiple mini-interviews (MMI). Validity evidence in response process, internal structure and relationship to other variables was investigated.

METHODS: A total of 146 students were interviewed by faculty members over a two-day period. The interviews took the form of an MMI, which consisted of six objective structure clinical examination (OSCE) stations with two faculty interviewers per station. Each student rotated through the six stations and were asked 4-5 structured questions per station. Each student was rated on a three-point rating scale.

RESULTS: The majority of dental students were rated to be acceptable. The inter-rater reliability was 0.91 which was significantly high (range: 0.87-0.94). The total MMI score for all stations was 73.47 (SD = 8.49) with female students scoring significantly higher than males did (p < 0.001). Generalizability study results indicated good reliability (Φ-coefficient = 0.73; G-coefficient = 0.75). Moderate association was found between total MMI score and foundation year GPA (r = 0.30, p ≤ 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary validity evidence supports the use of MMI scores as an admission tool for dental students, with respect to its response process, internal structure and relationship to other variables.