Current State of the Medical Student Performance Evaluation: A Tool for Reflection for Residency Programs

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Residency Admissions
• Performance Evaluation

Background:

• The Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE) is crucial for residency program admissions.
• Despite recommendations for standardization, MSPE content variability persists across institutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the current section content of MSPEs from US allopathic medical schools.
• To identify variations in the presentation of student performance data within MSPEs.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of MSPEs from 143 (95.3%) US allopathic medical schools for the 2019-2020 cycle.
• Utilized a trained manual data abstraction tool for coding MSPE content.
• Descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the collected data.

Main Results:

• Varied reporting of preclinical performance beyond pass/fail outcomes (30.8%).
• Inconsistent inclusion of fourth-year performance data (only 50% referenced).
• Diverse methods for overall performance descriptors (adjectives vs. numerical categories) and clerkship grade nomenclature.

Conclusions:

• Extreme variability exists in MSPE content, including grade nomenclature and performance descriptors.
• Lack of standardized data display and inclusion across all medical education years is evident.
• The findings highlight a need for greater standardization in MSPEs for equitable residency selection.