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Student performance during the medical course: role of pre-admission eligibility and selection criteria.

BACKGROUND
Marks scored in class XII determine the eligibility to apply to a medical course in India; selection is through an entrance test. Some students do poorly in the medical course. We assessed the eligibility and selection criteria as predictors of in-course performance.


METHOD
This cross-sectional study included marks in class XII and in each professional examination, and the Delhi University Medical-Dental Entrance Test (DUMET) rank for five batches of medical students. Students were grouped as those who passed professionals in the first attempt and those who did not. Unpaired t-test and Mann-Whitney U test compared class XII marks and mean DUMET scores between the two groups; ROC analysis determined class XII cut-off marks above which no student failed a professional.


RESULTS
Students who passed a professional in the first attempt had higher marks in class XII (p0.001). DUMET rank, however, was comparable for the two groups (p>0.05 each). Above a cut-off of 77.8% (in physics, chemistry and biology) students were significantly likely to never fail any professional.


CONCLUSION
Prior academic achievement is a useful measure of in-course performance; however, the current eligibility cut-off results in poor in-course performance by some students. The DUMET is a poor predictor of performance. There is need to reform eligibility and selection criteria to admit students who will do well in the medical course.