Clinical reading and writing skills of junior medical students

A three-year study was designed to assess general reading and writing skills of 231 entering medical students and to compare these scores with those of clinically oriented reading and writing skills in the same cohort of students three years later. Standardized reading and writing tests were administered to all entering freshmen in the class of 1982. Clinical reading and writing examinations were developed by the authors and members of the faculty. The reading test consisted of 16 multiple-choice questions in response to three short discussions in medical journals. Clinical writing was assessed through scoring each student's latter of referral to another physician after he read a "mock" chart of a patient's hospital care. The results showed that entry-level reading comprehension and clinical reading had a significant association as did entry-level English composition and clinical writing. Regression analysis showed that the entry-level reading and writing scores were better predictors of clinical reading and writing skills than any other prematriculation variables. The implications of these findings for medical education are discussed.