Background

This study sought to establish a defensible method for selecting students into our respiratory care program and to extend what we know about student-selection models.

Methods

Respiratory care students from 7 classes were included (n = 74). We analyzed relationships between predictor variables and two entry-level outcomes—students' grade-point average from the first 3 semesters of respiratory care courses (3S-RCGPA) and their scores (%) on the CRTT self-assessment examination (CSAE). Predictor variables were: AGE, GENDER, preprofessional college CREDITS, preprofessional OFF-CAMPUS credits (percent of CREDITS), ACT (American College Test) scores, presence or absence of an ACT score, preprofessional GPA (PPGPA), science-and-quantitative GPA (SQGPA), PPGPA-SQGPA difference (DGPA), TIME from the present, class SIZE, and INTERVIEW scores. Pearson correlations, bivariate scatter plots, and descriptive statistics were used to screen variables. Some predictors were transformed or downgraded (to categorical variables) for multivariate analyses, which included multiple regression and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA).

Results

3S-RCGPA correlated moderately with CSAE. PPGPA and ACT composite scores were significant multiple correlates with 3S-RCGPA and CSAE (p <0.05). Because of overlapping variances with PPGPA and ACT, CREDITS, DGPA, and INTERVIEW were not significant multiple correlates with either outcome measure (p < 0.05). Students who took all their preprofessional courses on-campus tended to have significantly higher 3S-RCGPA and CSAE values than students who took preprofessional courses off-campus (p < 0.05). AGE, GENDER, TIME, ACT, and SIZE groups had statistically similar average 3S-RCGPAS and CSAES.

Conclusions

Ranking candidates based on predicted 3S-RCGPA and CSAE is justified because it helps select students who are most likely to achieve entry-level status-readiness to sit the CRTT examination-after 3 semesters of respiratory care courses.