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Characteristics of senior medical students at Belfast
Author(s) -
IRWIN W. G.,
BAMBER J. H.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
medical education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.776
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1365-2923
pISSN - 0308-0110
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2923.1978.tb00645.x
Subject(s) - neuroticism , personality , extraversion and introversion , social class , psychology , population , aptitude , test (biology) , demography , big five personality traits , medicine , social psychology , developmental psychology , paleontology , sociology , biology , political science , law
Summary This paper analyses and discusses the degree of homogeneity existing in the medical school student population of the Queen's University, Belfast, in relation to certain characteristics: social class, academic attainment, admission standards, intelligence test scores, and personality. Findings are compared with those reported in earlier studies elsewhere. No sex difference in social class distribution of Queen's medical students is noted. There is a much lower proportion of social class I students and a higher social class III proportion, than shown elsewhere in Britain (Johnson, 1971). Women constitute 38% of the medical school student population, a proportion in line with the 40% reported as the overall British percentage (Brit. Med. J., 1976). Females are shown to have a significantly better overall academic record than males, related to intelligence, aptitude for certain subjects and probably to behavioural and attitudinal differences to study and medical care. No significant sex differences are noted in relation to entry qualifications, intelligence, and the personality factors of extraversion and neuroticism. Male A‐level scores in the present study are useful predictors of academic success in the medical course, but this is only true for females up to 2nd M.B. stage. General practice is the exception for both sexes, there being no significant correlations with general practice scores. Highly intelligent females and males below their group intelligence mean performed significantly better in learning situations in general practice as reflected in general practice scores, than highly intelligent males. The data may reflect different attitudes to whole person care and varying abilities to integrate knowledge and to define problems in primary care. These findings, including the sex differences in the factors related to academic attainment in the later clinical years of the medical curriculum, may have implications with regard to present selection procedures to most medical schools based solely on A‐level grades.