University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand.
Med Educ. 2013 Apr;47(4):417-24. doi: 10.1111/medu.12124.
The Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admissions Test (UMAT) is used to rank applicants for admission to many medical schools. This study aimed to determine the effects of preparation courses on UMAT performance and on students' perceptions of their performance.
We asked students who sat the UMAT twice across two consecutive years to complete an online survey. The survey was administered in 2010 and 2011 to gather information on preparation activities, costs of preparation activities and students' opinions regarding their expected performance. Survey responses were compared with student scores on the second taking of the UMAT, adjusted for prior UMAT scores and university performance.
The study (cohort: n = 263) was sufficiently powered to investigate two forms of preparation: courses offered by MedEntry (a UMAT preparation provider), and tutoring offered by the students' halls of residence. Neither was found to significantly affect UMAT score (p = 0.09 for MedEntry courses; p = 0.50 for halls of residence tutoring). There was no relationship between total time or money spent preparing and UMAT performance. However, students taking MedEntry courses and students spending more money on UMAT preparation were more likely to predict an improved score (p < 0.001 for both). A total of 85% of students improved their score on the second sitting, irrespective of preparation.
The use of either of two common forms of UMAT preparation does not translate to an improvement in UMAT score. However, in accordance with confirmation bias theory, the association between money spent on preparatory courses and self-assessed predicted score suggests that students' belief in the effectiveness of such courses may be confounded by their financial outlay.
本科医学与健康科学入学考试（UMAT）用于对许多医学院的申请人进行排名。本研究旨在确定预备课程对 UMAT 成绩的影响，以及对学生对自身表现的看法的影响。
我们要求连续两年参加 UMAT 考试的学生完成在线调查。该调查于 2010 年和 2011 年进行，以收集有关准备活动、准备活动费用以及学生对自身预期表现的看法的信息。调查结果与学生第二次参加 UMAT 的成绩进行了比较，对先前的 UMAT 成绩和大学成绩进行了调整。
该研究（队列：n=263）有足够的能力调查两种形式的准备：MedEntry（UMAT 准备提供商）提供的课程，以及学生宿舍提供的辅导。都没有发现对 UMAT 成绩有显著影响（MedEntry 课程为 p=0.09；宿舍辅导为 p=0.50）。准备时间或花费与 UMAT 成绩之间没有关系。然而，参加 MedEntry 课程的学生和在 UMAT 准备上花费更多钱的学生更有可能预测成绩提高（两者均为 p<0.001）。共有 85%的学生在第二次考试中提高了成绩，无论是否进行了准备。
使用两种常见的 UMAT 预备形式之一都不会提高 UMAT 成绩。然而，根据确认偏差理论，在预备课程上花费的金钱与自我评估的预测分数之间的关联表明，学生对这些课程有效性的信念可能因他们的经济支出而产生混淆。
