PERFORMANCES OF UNDERREPRESENTED-MINORITY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY-OF-ARIZONA COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, 1987-1991

Purpose. To compare the academic performances of underrepresented-mino rity (African American, Native American, and Hispanic) students and al l other students at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. Met hod. The performances of 42 underrepresented-minority and 368 other st udents who graduated between 1987 and 1991 were compared using the fol lowing variables: undergraduate science, non-science, and overall grad e-point average (GPA); scores on the Medical College Admission Test (M CAT); subtest and total scores on the National Board of Medical Examin ers (NBME) Part I and Part II examinations; and three types of evaluat ions from a required family practice clerkship. In addition, a compari son was made of scores on an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) taken in the fourth year by 25 underrepresented-minority and 1 65 other students. Data were analyzed using a three-way analysis of va riance and Pearson correlation analysis. Results. The underrepresented -minority students earned significantly lower GPAs and scored signific antly lower on all standardized paper-and-pencil tests and the family practice clerkship final examination. There was no significant group d ifference in the family practice clerkship clinical evaluations or the majority of the OSCE scores. For both groups, overall GPAs and MCAT s cores correlated equally well with NBME total scores but were not sign ificantly correlated with OSCE scores or family practice clerkship cli nical evaluations. Conclusion. While the underrepresented-minority stu dents entered medical school with significant educational disadvantage s and continued to score lower than the other students on paper-and-pe ncil tests, their clinical performances on the OSCE and family practic e clerkship were nearly equivalent to those of the other students.