Huff K L, Fang D
Section for the Medical College Admission Test, Association of American Medical Colleges, Washington, D.C., USA.
Acad Med. 1999 Apr;74(4):454-60. doi: 10.1097/00001888-199904000-00047.
The authors carried out the study reported here to assess which variables are most predictive of the risk of medical students' experiencing academic difficulties and to assess when these students are most susceptible to encountering those difficulties. The entering class of 1992 was chosen as the study population because it was the first matriculating class in which the majority of students (88%) applied to medical school with scores from the revised Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), first implemented in 1991. The primary event of interest in this study was the first occurrence of one of the following events because of academic difficulty: withdrawal, leave of absence, dismissal, or delay of graduation date. The variables examined were MCAT scores undergraduate science GPA, undergraduate institutional selectivity, undergraduate major, racial-ethnic background, sex, and age upon entering medical school. Survival analysis was used to assess which variables were most predictive of the risk of academic difficulty and when students with different characteristics were most at risk. The results of the survival analysis indicated that (1) while the risk and timing of academic difficulty varied across the groups studied, a majority of the students who experienced academic difficulty eventually graduated from medical school and (2) students with non-science undergraduate majors did not have a greater risk of academic difficulty. The results confirm previous findings that increased risk of academic difficulty is associated with low MCAT scores, low science GPA, low undergraduate institutional selectivity, being a woman, being a member of a racial-ethnic underrepresented minority, or being older. The study findings can be generalized to help in early identification of students who are more likely to be at risk of experiencing academic difficulty. Knowing when these students are more likely to be at risk can help medical schools develop targeted remedial and enrichment programs. Further studies are needed to investigate school-related factors associated with risk.
作者开展了本研究，以评估哪些变量最能预测医学生出现学业困难的风险，并评估这些学生何时最易遭遇此类困难。之所以选择1992年入学的班级作为研究对象，是因为这是首个大多数学生（88%）凭借1991年首次实施的修订版医学院入学考试（MCAT）成绩申请医学院的入学班级。本研究关注的主要事件是因学业困难首次出现以下事件之一：退学、休学、被开除或毕业日期推迟。所考察的变量包括MCAT成绩、本科理科平均绩点、本科院校的选拔性、本科专业、种族背景、性别以及进入医学院时的年龄。生存分析用于评估哪些变量最能预测学业困难风险，以及具有不同特征的学生何时风险最高。生存分析结果表明：（1）虽然学业困难的风险和发生时间在各研究组中有所不同，但大多数经历学业困难的学生最终都从医学院毕业；（2）本科非理科专业的学生出现学业困难的风险并不更高。这些结果证实了先前的研究发现，即学业困难风险增加与MCAT成绩低、理科平均绩点低、本科院校选拔性低、女性、属于代表性不足的少数族裔或年龄较大有关。研究结果具有普遍意义，有助于早期识别更有可能面临学业困难风险的学生。了解这些学生何时更易面临风险，有助于医学院制定有针对性的补救和强化计划。还需要进一步研究来调查与风险相关的确学校因素。
