University of Utah School of Medicine
Medical school admissions have
historically used traditional interviews and written applications to assess for
non-cognitive traits, such as empathy, communication skills, and
compassion. With the growth of
technology, a Standardized Video Interview (SVI) could be another assessment
tool in the admissions toolkit.
Methodology: At the University of
Utah School of Medicine (UUSOM), we administered the SVI to 568 applicants to
our medical school in 2017. We
calculated the reliability of the SVI using Cronbach Alpha and a Many-Facets
Rasch Model. We correlated SVI scores with scores on the Multiple Mini
Interview (MMI), Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), and Grade Point
Average (GPA). We compared mean SVI scores for male versus female, white versus
non-white, and age less than 26 versus age greater than 25.
Results: Cronbach Alpha reliability for the SVI was
0.78 and for the MMI it was 0.63. The Rasch Model reliability for applicant
scores was 0.83. The SVI and MMI were not correlated with MCAT and GPA, but
were moderately correlated with each other. We found no statistical difference by gender, race,
or age on mean SVI scores.
Discussion: SVI is potentially measuring, with adequate
reliability, non-cognitive traits of medical school applicants. It is reassuring that this new assessment
method does not appear to create bias based on applicants’ gender, race, or
age. Additional research should be done to
determine if the SVI measure of these non-cognitive traits are predictive of
performance of matriculated applicants as they progress through their medical
school training.
