IDENTIFYING QUALIFIED UNDERREPRESENTED-MINORITY STUDENTS WHO OTHERWISE APPEAR TO BE AT ACADEMIC RISK

Purpose. To determine whether an academically intense program simulati ng six weeks of medical school could identify underrepresented-minorit y students at apparent academic risk who might actually have the time- management and other skills needed to succeed in medical school. Metho d. In the summer of 1995, 16 premedical students from minorities under represented in medicine participated in a six-course, six-week program at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. Academic credentials prior to participation in the program and performances in the program were compared for students subsequently offered or denied admission to the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. Statistical methods incl uded use of Student's t-test and Pearson correlation coefficients. Res ults. Of the 16 participants, eight passed at least five courses and w ere accepted for early admission to the medical school; seven failed t wo or more courses and were denied admission; and one did not complete the program. The accepted and denied groups could be distinguished st atistically by their overall performances in the program and their per formances in four of the six courses, but not by their performances pr ior to the program: the accepted students had a mean grade point avera ge of 2.68, SEM, 0.07, versus 2.66, SEM, 0.07, for the denied students , and a mean total Medical College admission Test score of 16.2, SEM, 0.5, versus 17.0, SEM, 0.7. Conclusion. Programs such as the one at th e Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine might be relatively in expen sive ways for medical schools and underrepresented-minority students a t apparent academic risk to learn whether the students are, neverthele ss, prepared to succeed academically in medical school.