Correlation of GPA with Final MBBS Examination Scores Among Students on Three Campuses of the University of the West Indies.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the correlation between in-course grade point average (GPA) and exit examination scores in a five-year undergraduate medical program in a Small Island Developing State setting.

METHODS

A retrospective observational study was conducted in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at three campuses of a single multinational university, involving 470 students. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to measure the strength of association between GPA and scores on various components of the final examination, as well as to determine the predictive value of GPA for overall performance on the examination.

RESULTS

GPA showed a strong positive correlation (>0.7) with the written Medicine and Therapeutics exam scores in cohort 1, and a moderate positive correlation (0.5-0.7) in cohorts 2 and 3. Written Obstetrics and Gynecology scores were moderately positively (0.5-0.7) correlated across all cohorts. For written Surgery exams, the correlation was moderately positive in cohorts 1 and 3 but weak (<0.5) in cohort 2. GPA and scores from the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) component of Medicine and Therapeutics exam showed moderate positive correlation in all three student cohorts; the Obstetrics and Gynecology OSCE showed moderately positive correlation with GPA in cohorts 1 and 3 and weakly so in cohort 2; the Surgery OSCE showed moderate positive correlation with GPA in cohorts 1 and 3 and weak positive correlation in cohort 2. GPA was strongly correlated with the total score on the final MBBS examination.

CONCLUSION

Although the degree of correlation between the GPA and scores on the different components of the final MBBS examination varied, there was a strong correlation between GPA and total score on the final examination. Our findings suggest that further discussion of the purposes and design of course-based and final examinations is needed.