Keith L, Hollar D
UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA.
Educ Health (Abingdon). 2012 Jul;25(1):55-63. doi: 10.4103/1357-6283.99208.
This study assessed the impact of a pre-medical pipeline program on successful completion of medical school and the capacity of this program to address achievement gaps experienced by disadvantaged students. The University of North Carolina (USA) Medical Education Development (MED) program provides intensive academic and test skills preparation for admission to medical, dental, and other allied health professions schools.
This retrospective study evaluated the academic progress of a longitudinal sample of 1738 disadvantaged college students who completed MED between 1974 and 2001. Data sources included MED participant data, medical school admissions data for the host school, aggregate data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), and individual MED participant data from AAMC. Methods of analysis utilized Chi-square, independent samples t test, and logistic regression to examine associations between factors.
Of the 935 students in MED from 1974 to 2001, who had indicated an interest in medical school, 887 (94.9%) successfully matriculated and 801 (85.7%) successfully earned the MD degree. Using logistic regression, factors that were significantly correlated with earning the medical degree included the student's race, college undergraduate total and science grade point averages, with Hispanic, African American, and Native American participants earning the medical degree at rates comparable to Caucasian participants. MED students successfully earned the MD degree despite having significantly lower Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) scores and undergraduate grade point averages compared to all United States medical school applicants: MCAT scores had little relationship with student's success.
These findings suggest that an intensive, nine-week, pre-medical academic enrichment program that incorporates confidence-building and small-group tutoring and peer support activities can build a foundation on which disadvantaged students can successfully earn matriculation to and graduation from medical school.
本研究评估了一个医学预科衔接项目对医学院成功毕业的影响，以及该项目解决弱势学生所面临成绩差距问题的能力。美国北卡罗来纳大学医学教育发展（MED）项目为申请医学院、牙医学院及其他健康相关专业学院的学生提供强化的学术和考试技能培训。
这项回顾性研究评估了1974年至2001年间完成MED项目的1738名弱势大学生的纵向样本的学业进展。数据来源包括MED参与者数据、本校医学院录取数据、美国医学院协会（AAMC）的汇总数据以及AAMC的MED参与者个人数据。分析方法采用卡方检验、独立样本t检验和逻辑回归来检验各因素之间的关联。
在1974年至2001年间参加MED项目且表示对医学院感兴趣的935名学生中，887名（94.9%）成功入学，801名（85.7%）成功获得医学博士学位。通过逻辑回归分析，与获得医学学位显著相关的因素包括学生的种族、大学本科总成绩和理科平均绩点，西班牙裔、非裔美国人和美国原住民参与者获得医学学位的比例与白人参与者相当。尽管与所有美国医学院申请者相比，MED项目的学生医学院入学考试（MCAT）成绩和本科平均绩点显著较低，但他们仍成功获得了医学博士学位：MCAT成绩与学生的成功关系不大。
这些研究结果表明，一个为期九周的强化医学预科项目，包括自信心培养、小组辅导和同伴支持活动，可以为弱势学生成功进入医学院并毕业奠定基础。
