This study was prompted by concern that
the criterion of an overall cutoff score on
Basic Medical Sciences (BMS) examinations allows students to advance to their
clinical training despite possible deficien cies in specific disciplines. To examine the
validity of this concern, pass-fail decisions
on four Basic Medical Sciences comprehensive examinations were compared with
the passing criterion based on the overall
cutoff score and on the discipline subtest
cutoff scores. The data from the latter
procedure did not support the original
concern. Alternative strategies for dealing
with this problem were subsequently discussed.
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