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Biomedical subjects

William T Basco

Publications and source records attributed to William T Basco.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Medical school application interview score has limited predictive validity for performance on a fourth year clinical practice examination.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: : Data supporting the predictive validity of the medical school admission interview are mixed. This study tested the hypothesis that the admission interview is predictive of interpersonal interactions between medical students and standardized patients. METHOD: : We determined correlations between admission interview scores and performance on a senior-year Clinical Practice Examination piloting US National Board of Medical Examiners stations. We also completed regression analyses controlling for undergraduate academic performance, gender and ethnicity. Outcome measures included an Interpersonal Skills score and a separate Overall Checklist performance score, completed by standardized patients. RESULTS: : The applicant interview had limited but statistically significant correlation with the Interpersonal Skills (r = 0.15; p < 0.05) score. The applicant interview had a correlation of 0.13 with the Overall Checklist score (p = .056). In linear regression models, the applicant interview had limited but statistically significant correlations with the Interpersonal Skills score and the Overall Checklist score. CONCLUSION: : As practiced at this medical school, the admission interview has limited predictive validity for future interactions with standardized patients. More comprehensive assessment of interpersonal skills during the medical school selection process will be needed in order to better select matriculants with desirable interpersonal skills.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed2006

Performance outcomes associated with medical school community service.

BACKGROUND: Providing medical students with community service opportunities during medical school is believed to foster altruism. Little is known whether voluntary community service is associated with students' academic and clinical skill performance. This study examined the relationship between students' volunteer community service hours during medical school and their medical school academic performance, measures of clinical skills, and residency performance. METHOD: Subjects were 2001 and 2002 graduates of the institution. Performance measures were: United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 2 score, grade point average, fourth-year clinical skills examination scores, and two types of residency director assessments. Associations between performance measures and community service hour categories were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square, and t-tests. RESULTS: Students in the highest service group (>/=18.5 hours) had significantly higher grade point averages, USMLE Step 2 scores, and scores on both residency director assessment when compared to students with no community service hours. CONCLUSIONS: Community service involvement in medical school appears associated with medical school academic and residency performances.

Community Health Services↗
PubMed2005

Rekindling student interest in generalist careers.

Despite changes in the structure of the U.S. health care system, patients continue to need and seek out generalist physicians. However, the proportion of U.S. graduates of medical schools who choose to enter generalist residency training decreased from 50% in 1998 to less than 40% in the 2004 match. Unless we act now to reverse this trend, we may face a shortage of primary care physicians to care for the complex medical needs of an aging population. This article reviews the history of and trends in career choice and proposes 4 evidence-based recommendations to rekindle student interest in generalist careers: 1) We must improve satisfaction and enthusiasm among generalist physician role models. 2) Schools of medicine should redouble their efforts to produce primary care physicians. 3) We must facilitate the pathway from medical school to generalist residency. 4) The U.S. government should increase funding for primary care research and research training. In the absence of a major overhaul of economic incentives in favor of generalist careers, we will need to work at these multiple levels to restore balance to the generalist physician workforce and align with the desires and expectations of patients for continuing healing relationships with generalist physicians.

Biomedical Research↗
PubMed2005

The relationship between the National Board of Medical Examiners' prototype of the Step 2 clinical skills exam and interns' performance.

PURPOSE: To examine the relationship between graduates' performances on a prototype of the National Board of Medical Examiners' Step 2 CS and other undergraduate measures with their residency directors' ratings of their performances as interns. METHOD: Data were collected for the 2001 and 2002 graduates from the study institution. Checklist and interpersonal scores from the prototype Step 2 CS, along with United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 and 2 scores and undergraduate grade-point average (GPA), were correlated with residency directors' ratings (average score for six competencies, quartile ranking, and isolated interpersonal communication competency score). Stepwise linear regression was used to identify the best outcome predictors. RESULTS: Quartile ranking was more highly correlated with GPA than Step 2 CS prototype interpersonal score, USMLE Step 2 score, USMLE Step 1 score, and Step 2 CS prototype checklist score. The average score on the residency director's survey was more highly correlated with GPA than USMLE Step 2 score, USMLE Step 1 score, Step 2 CS prototype interpersonal score, and Step 2 CS prototype checklist score. The best predictors for both quartile ranking and average competency score were GPA and Step 2 CS prototype interpersonal score (R(2) = 0.26 and 0.28). CONCLUSION: Both scores from the Step 2 CS prototype significantly correlated with the interns' quartile ranking and average competency score. Only GPA and Step 2 CS prototype interpersonal score accounted for most of the variance of performance in the regression model.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed2005

How does pre-admission community service compare with community service during medical school?

BACKGROUND: Little research has examined the link between premedical community service and subsequent community service undertaken in medical school. PURPOSE: This study examined the relationship between applicants' community service history with reported community service experiences during medical school. METHODS: Admission files were retrospectively reviewed and community service hours during medical school were totaled for 2003 graduates at the study institution. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and logistic regressions. RESULTS: Applicants who were women, had volunteered with multiple types of organizations, and volunteered more than 2 years were all significantly more likely, chi2 p < .05, to have provided greater community service hours during medical school than others. CONCLUSIONS: Aspects of applicants' community service histories, particularly the number of different types of organizations served and length of service, appear related to their subsequent community service involvement in medical school. Admissions committees may wish to provide additional consideration to such applicants.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Predictive validity of the Medical College Admissions Test Writing Sample for the United States medical licensing examination steps 1 and 2.

Despite the amount of published research on the predictive validity of the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) taken as a whole, few published reports separate the individual predictive validity of the Writing Sample. The purpose of this study is to provide data on the predictive validity of the Writing Sample for the national licensing exam used in the United States. Subjects consisted of 1992-1995 matriculants from a publicly owned medical school in the Southeastern United States. Independent variables were undergraduate grade point average, and four section scores on a required admissions test (Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, Verbal Reasoning, and Writing Sample). The dependent variables were Steps 1 and 2 on the three step licensing examination. Steps 1 and 2 of the examination are taken during medical school. Multiple regression models calculated additional variance accounted for by the addition of the Writing Sample to a model containing grade point average and the other admissions test section scores. In multivariate analyses, when grade point average and all admissions test scores were considered as predictors of licensing exam scores, the Writing Sample variable did not add to the ability to predicting the Step 1 or Step 2 scores. The results of this study suggest that the Writing Sample has limited predictive validity for assessing success on a national licensing exam. However, as others suggest, the value of the Writing Sample and other surrogates of communication probably lie in predicting performance in the clinical years of medical school and beyond. Additional work should include evaluating the predictive validity of the Writing Sample and other pre-medical school measures of communication with widely acceptable measures of performance in clinical settings, including physician-patient communication.

Adult↗