The performance of students selected through a special program at St. Louis University School of Medicine

To compare the performances of students selected through a special program, the Medical Anatomy Preparatory Program (MAPP), at St. Louis University School of Medicine with those of students admitted at the traditional way.

The students were members of the classes of 1993-1996 at the St. Louis University School of Medicine (N = 654). Of these, 52 (8%) were MAPP students. The MAPP students and the non-MAPP students were compared on the basis of various test scores and grades obtained from the admission office, the registrar's office, and the office of curricular affairs. Means and standard deviations were computed for each group, and the MAPP students and the non-MAPP students were compared using analysis of variance to assess the statistical significance of any differences.

The non-MAPP students were significantly better than were the MAPP students in terms of Medical College Admission Test scores, undergraduate gradepoint averages, grades for three major second-year courses, and performances on Steps 1 and 2 of the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination (all p < .001). There was no significant difference between the groups in grades for three major first-year courses or five major third-year courses. None of the MAPP students has been dropped for academic reasons.

The MAPP program takes medical school applicants who have been rejected because of their preadmission performances, given them the opportunity to show that they can perform at the medical school level by taking the anatomy courses with the regular medical students, and accepts those who are successful. The results suggest that those chosen can satisfactorily complete the requirements for the MD degree.