Impact on Admission to a School of Medicine of an Innovation in Selection Procedures

Abstract

This paper reports the impact on admission to the University of Missouri-Kansas City's 6-yr. combined baccalaureate-doctor of medicine program of an innovation in selection procedures. In 1973 and 1974, the school's Council on Selection de-emphasized high school academic performance but continued to consider extensive biographical and interview data. Significant differences emerged in the correlations of various selection criteria with the Council's ratings of candidates in 1973 and 1974 in comparison with the prior year. Specifically, admission test score which had the highest correlation (.58) in 1972 was only .18 in 1973. The negative correlation (−.30) of race (discriminatory toward non-whites) in 1972 was not present in 1973 or 1974. Instead, the highest correlations were the interviewers' ratings and recommended decisions.