Student Performance on Course Objectives in a First-Year Medical School Foundational Science Course Correlate with USMLE Step 1 Scores.

Purpose: Early identification of students at risk for poor United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 examination (Step 1) performance allows medical schools to provide targeted intervention for those students. Therefore, determination of metrics that identify struggling students is necessary for proper intervention. We hypothesize that; 1) student performance on pre-matriculation metrics will correlate with their Molecular and Cellular Foundations of Medicine (FDNS) course performance and 2) student performance in the FDNS course and on specific FDNS course objectives will correlate with their Step 1 performance.