Admission criteria and diversity in medical school.

Context: The under-representation in medical education of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds is an important social issue. There is currently little evidence about whether changes in admission strategies might increase the diversity of the medical student population. Denmark introduced an 'attribute-based' admission track to make it easier for students who may not be eligible for admission on the 'grade-based' track to be admitted on the basis of attributes other than academic performance.

[Admission tests for medical education].

This state of the art article explores what is known from the international and Danish literature on admission criteria as predictors of success in medical education. Previous academic performance is the best known predictor of medical students' grades. Poorer entry qualifications, broadly defined, are associated with dropout in medical education.

Medical school dropout--testing at admission versus selection by highest grades as predictors.

Context: Very few studies have reported on the effect of admission tests on medical school dropout. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive validity of non-grade-based admission testing versus grade-based admission relative to subsequent dropout.

Methods: This prospective cohort study followed six cohorts of medical students admitted to the medical school at the University of Southern Denmark during 2002-2007 (n=1544).

Factors associated with dropout in medical education: a literature review.

Context: Medical school dropout may have negative consequences for society, patients, the profession, schools and dropouts. To our knowledge, the literature dealing with dropout from medical school has never been systematically and critically appraised.

Objectives: This review aimed to systematically and critically review studies dealing with factors found to be associated with dropping out of medical school.

Teaching acid/base physiology in the laboratory.

Acid/base homeostasis is one of the most difficult subdisciplines of physiology for medical students to master. A different approach, where theory and practice are linked, might help students develop a deeper understanding of acid/base homeostasis. We therefore set out to develop a laboratory exercise in acid/base physiology that would provide students with unambiguous and reproducible data that clearly would illustrate the theory in practice.

Generalizability of a composite student selection procedure at a university-based chiropractic program.

Purpose: Non-cognitive admission criteria are typically used in chiropractic student selection to supplement grades. The reliability of non-cognitive student admission criteria in chiropractic education has not previously been examined. In addition, very few studies have examined the overall test generalizability of composites of non-cognitive admission variables in admission to health science programs.

Generalisability of a composite student selection programme.

Unlabelled: OBJECTIVES The reliability of individual non-cognitive admission criteria in medical education is controversial. Nonetheless, non-cognitive admission criteria appear to be widely used in selection to medicine to supplement the grades of qualifying examinations. However, very few studies have examined the overall test generalisability of composites of non-cognitive admission variables in medical education.

[Peer tutorial programme as a part of the medical curriculum].

This article shows the possible effects of an integrated intensive introduction to medical school using older students as tutors for first-year students. Our project resulted in a significant decrease in the average time to completion of the first five semesters of the medical bachelor' degree.