SURGICAL CLERKSHIP PERFORMANCE OF TRADITIONAL AND NONTRADITIONAL STUDENTS IN A PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING-ENVIRONMENT

BACKGROUND: To determine whether nontraditional students perform bette r than traditional students during surgical clerkships as reflected on the surgical clerkship final examination. METHODS: Retrospective revi ew of medical student records from the classes of 1986 through 1993. S tudents admitted soon after completing undergraduate training were ide ntified as ''traditional,'' and those having prior careers as ''nontra ditional.'' RESULTS: There were 150 traditional and 72 nontraditional students. The ratio of men to women and admission MCAT scores were not significantly different. Traditional students were significantly youn ger and had higher admission grade point averages (GPAs). Nontradition al students were more likely to be married and have children. Final ex amination scores of traditional and nontraditional students were not s ignificantly different. MCAT scores and college GPAs were the best pre dictors of final examination performance. Married students performed s ignificantly better than single students. CONCLUSIONS: There was no si gnificant difference between nontraditional and traditional student pe rformance on the surgical clerkship final examination.