University Pre-medical Academic Performance as a Predictor of performance in the Medical School: A Case Study at the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos

Abstract

The present study was carried out to evaluate student achievement in medical school professional examinations in the light of previous pre-medical school academic performance. This was done as part of the process of evaluating factors which might contribute to academic success and high quality of medical education. Medical and Dental students of the University of Lagos Medical School were studied over a five-year performance period. They were divided into high, medium and low-performance groups based on their performance in the pre-medical school examination. The high performance group were students who scored above 59%, medium performance — those who scored between 53% and 58%, while the low-performance group were those who scored below 51%. The mean achievements of the three groups in medical school examinations were studied and compared. It was observed that pre-medical school high-performers continued to perform better than the medium-performers, scoring an average of 60% in all the exams. The medium performers were also found to perform better than the low-performance group, scoring an average of 55% in their exams while the low performers scored an average of 50%. Results of the study imply that performance in the medical school entrance examinations is a good index of student performance and achievement in the medical school and is therefore predictive of future clinical performance. Low performance in pre-medical school exams generally leads to poor performance in the medical school. These results will be relevant when there is need to modify academic and admission policies in the Medical School.



Key words: Pre-medical school performance, medical school achievement.


[Nig. Jnl Health & Biomedical Sciences Vol.1(1) 2002: 49-53]