Undergraduate average predicts performance by Puerto Rico residents in a Puerto Rican medical school.

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between undergraduate grade-point average and several parameters that measure performance for a pool of 316 Hispanic Puerto Rico residents admitted to a private medical school in Puerto Rico as freshmen between 1979 and 1983. Significant positive linear correlation was found between the undergraduate average and the medical school cumulative, basic science and clinical science grade-point averages of all Puerto Rico residents who achieved graduation from this school (linear correlation coefficient r = +0.25, +0.22, +0.24, respectively; P less than 0.01 in all cases). Significant negative linear correlation was found between the undergraduate average and the percentage of students experiencing academic difficulty during medical school (r = -0.85, P less than 0.05). On the other hand, correlation between the undergraduate average and student performance on the first two parts of the National Medical Board Examination was not statistically significant (Part I: r = +0.11, P less than 0.2; Part II: r = +0.12, P less than 0.3). No correlation was observed between undergraduate average and subjective evaluation of graduate performance during the first postgraduate year.