The Effect of Review Courses upon Students' Performance on a Standardized Medical College Examination

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship of three medical college policies and procedures on the results of Part I of the standardized National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) medical college examination. The three variables included (1) whether a school required its students to pass Part Ifor promotion or required its students to pass Part Ito record a score, (2) whether or not a school offered or recommended a review course for Part I, and (3) the number of days between the end of formal classwork and the administration of Part I. Correlation studies between these variables and the schools' performance on NBME Part I were conducted using the schools' mean Science MCA T scores as a covariate. A statistically significant result was found only for the review course variable. The covariate, Science MCA T, accounted for over 50% of the variance on Part I. The results indicate that a school policy of offering or recommending a review course for Part I is associated with a small but statistically significant increment in Part I scores.