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Preferences of program directors for evaluation of candidates for postgraduate training
1Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Ont.
Objective:
To determine the preferences of program directors for various grading systems and other criteria in selecting students for residency training positions through the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS).
Design:
Questionnaire survey.
Participants:
All 110 directors of residency training programs in Ontario.
Setting:
Ontario medical schools.
Outcome Measures:
Weighting of importance of different screening tools (e.g., grading systems, personal interview, dean's letter) used during undergraduate training.
Results:
Of the 110 directors 96 (87%) responded. Of the 92 who rated the various grading practices 35 (38%) preferred a numeric grading system, 26 (28%) a letter grading system, 23 (25%) an honours/pass/fail system and 8 (9%) a pass/fail system. Most of the respondents from each school favoured a grading system that was more discriminating than the one used at their location. The personal interview was regarded as the most important screening tool by 80 (83%) of the respondents; the dean's letter was considered to be very useful by only 16 (17%).
Conclusions:
More value was placed by program directors on a numeric or other more discriminating grading system than on the pass/fail system. Although the grading system provides only one type of screening mechanism it raises the question of whether there should be a policy for uniform grading practices for all Canadian students.