Selection criteria for internal medicine residency applicants and professionalism ratings during internship. Mayo Clin Proc 2011 Mar;86(3):197-202
Date
03/03/2011Pubmed ID
21364111Pubmed Central ID
PMC3046939DOI
10.4065/mcp.2010.0655Scopus ID
2-s2.0-79952367467 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 29 CitationsAbstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether standardized admissions data in residents' Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) submissions were associated with multisource assessments of professionalism during internship.
PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: ERAS applications for all internal medicine interns (N=191) at Mayo Clinic entering training between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2008, were reviewed by 6 raters. Extracted data included United States Medical Licensing Examination scores, medicine clerkship grades, class rank, Alpha Omega Alpha membership, advanced degrees, awards, volunteer activities, research experiences, first author publications, career choice, and red flags in performance evaluations. Medical school reputation was quantified using U.S. News & World Report rankings. Strength of comparative statements in recommendation letters (0 = no comparative statement, 1 = equal to peers, 2 = top 20%, 3 = top 10% or "best") were also recorded. Validated multisource professionalism scores (5-point scales) were obtained for each intern. Associations between application variables and professionalism scores were examined using linear regression.
RESULTS: The mean ± SD (minimum-maximum) professionalism score was 4.09 ± 0.31 (2.13-4.56). In multivariate analysis, professionalism scores were positively associated with mean strength of comparative statements in recommendation letters (β = 0.13; P = .002). No other associations between ERAS application variables and professionalism scores were found.
CONCLUSION: Comparative statements in recommendation letters for internal medicine residency applicants were associated with professionalism scores during internship. Other variables traditionally examined when selecting residents were not associated with professionalism. These findings suggest that faculty physicians' direct observations, as reflected in letters of recommendation, are useful indicators of what constitutes a best student. Residency selection committees should scrutinize applicants' letters for strongly favorable comparative statements.
Author List
Cullen MW, Reed DA, Halvorsen AJ, Wittich CM, Kreuziger LM, Keddis MT, McDonald FS, Beckman TJAuthor
Lisa M. Baumann Kreuziger MD Associate Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdultClinical Competence
Cohort Studies
Female
Humans
Internal Medicine
Internship and Residency
Linear Models
Male
Predictive Value of Tests
Retrospective Studies
School Admission Criteria
United States
