A literature review of the predictive validity of European dental school selection methods

INTRODUCTION

Selection to dental school is the point at which there is the potential to assess a wide range of candidate attributes and select those most likely to learn, train and work within the profession. Despite this, little is known in terms of what works and what does not work in dental selection in terms of predicting future performance accurately and fairly. Given this, our aim was to synthesise the last 30 years of research investigating the predictive validity of dental school selection methods.

METHODS

A search of the electronic databases SCOPUS, Pubmed and Embase was conducted. Results were limited to English language studies published between January 1987 and January 2017.

RESULTS

Twenty-one studies were included. Selection tools fell into five broad categories: tests of personal qualities; cognitive ability; academic attainment; psychomotor skills and combined ability tests. Most were retrospective, single-site studies limited to early years of dental school. Weak correlations were reported, but in most cases, these were between small sections of the selection tool and/or the outcome measure.

DISCUSSION

There was a notable dearth of published research examining dental schools selection processes across Europe over the last 30 years. Current literature was limited by weak study design and lack of long-term follow-up.

CONCLUSION

There is insufficient high-quality evidence from which to draw any conclusions as to the best selection methods to use in dental school selection. Without this, designing selection frameworks for dentistry which are appropriately weighted, reliable and valid remains a challenge.

Changes and inequalities in early birth registration and childhood care and education in Vietnam: findings from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, 2006 and 2011

Introduction

Early birth registration, childhood care, and education are essential rights for children and are important for their development and education. This study investigates changes and socioeconomic inequalities in early birth registration and indicators of care and education in children aged under 5 years in Vietnam.

Design

The analyses reported here used data from the Vietnam Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) in 2006 and 2011. The sample sizes in 2006 and 2011 were 2,680 and 3,678 for children under 5 years of age. Four indicators of childcare and preschool education were measured: birth registration, possession of books, preschool education attendance, and parental support for early childhood education. The concentration index (CI) was used to measure inequalities in gender, maternal education, geographical area, place of residence, ethnicity, and household wealth.

Results

There were some improvements in birth registration (86.4% in 2006; 93.8% in 2011), preschool education attendance (57.1% in 2006; 71.9% in 2011), and parental support for early childhood education (68.9 and 76.8%, respectively). However, the possession of books was lower (24.7% in 2006; 19.6% in 2011) and became more unequal over time (i.e. CI=0.370 in 2006; CI=0.443 in 2011 in wealth inequality). Inequalities in the care and education of children were still persistent. The largest inequalities were for household wealth and rural versus urban areas.

Conclusion

Although there have been some improvements in this area, inequalities still exist. Policy efforts in Vietnam should be directed towards closing the gap between different socioeconomic groups for the care and education of children under 5 years old.

Using personal qualities assessment to measure the moral orientation and personal qualities of medical students in a non-Western culture

How to select candidates with appropriate personal qualities for medical school is an important issue. This study examined the psychometric properties and group differences of the Personal Qualities Assessment (PQA) to test the feasibility of using it as a tool to assess the medical school applicants in a non-Western culture. Seven hundred forty-six medical students in Taiwan completed two psychometric measures: Mojac to assess moral orientation and NACE to assess four aspects of interpersonal relationships. Thirty-one students completed the tests twice to establish test-retest reliability. A subsample of 127 students also completed a measure of the "Big Five" personality traits to examine the construct validity of these scales. Both Mojac and NACE had acceptable internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Conceptually, coherent and significant relationships were observed between test components and between the NACE and Big Five. NACE but not Mojac varied significantly between different sociodemographic groups. Both tests demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties. However, the predictive validity of PQA requires future studies.