Related Experiment Videos
Why do medical school applicants apply to particular schools?
I C McManus1, B C Winder, K A Sproston
1St Mary's Hospital Medical School, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, UK.
Medical Education
|March 1, 1993
Summary
Medical school applicants cite reputation, personal contact, location, and prospectus as key reasons for applying. Applicant perceptions influenced how different UK medical schools were grouped, with London, provincial, and Scottish schools forming distinct clusters.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Higher Education Admissions
- Psychology of Decision Making
Background:
- Understanding applicant motivations is crucial for medical school recruitment.
- Previous research has explored factors influencing medical school choice, but a comprehensive analysis of applicant-stated reasons across multiple UK institutions was lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the specific reasons 5427 applicants cited for choosing their top five UK medical schools.
- To identify underlying dimensions of these reasons and examine how applicant perceptions shape the perceived distinctiveness of medical schools.
Main Methods:
- Factor analysis was employed to identify key dimensions from 22 stated reasons for application.
- Cluster analysis was used to group medical schools based on aggregated applicant perception profiles.
- Data aggregated from 24852 applications to five choices per applicant.
Main Results:
- Four primary dimensions emerged: 'Reputation', 'Personal contact', 'Location', and 'Prospectus'.
- Applicant perceptions led to distinct clustering of medical schools: London schools, provincial England/Wales schools, and Scottish schools formed separate groups.
- Oxbridge and Belfast were perceived as outliers compared to other institutions.
Conclusions:
- Applicant motivations for medical school selection are multi-dimensional, encompassing institutional reputation, personal connections, geographical factors, and informational materials.
- Perceptions of medical schools are not uniform and can lead to distinct geographical and institutional groupings, influencing applicant decision-making processes.