ArticleBMJ open2021
Measuring differential attainment: a longitudinal analysis of assessment results for 1512 medical students at four Scottish medical schools.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Differential attainment within medical education: a systematic review.BMC medical education · 2025Pooled it
- Big data analysis: examination of the relationship between candidates' sociodemographic characteristics and performance in the UK's Membership of the Royal College of Physicians Part 1 examination.Advances in health sciences education : theory and practice · 2025Article
- The Utility of Multiple-Choice Assessment in Current Medical Education: A Critical Review.Cureus · 2024Review
- Medical student experiences of equality, diversity, and inclusion: content analysis of student feedback using Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory.BMC medical education · 2024Article
- Is the awarding gap at UK medical schools influenced by ethnicity and medical school attended? A retrospective cohort study.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Observational
- Understanding Healthcare Students' Experiences of Racial Bias: A Narrative Review of the Role of Implicit Bias and Potential Interventions in Educational Settings.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo measure Differential Attainment (DA) among Scottish medical students and to explore whether attainment gaps increase or decrease during medical school.
designA retrospective analysis of undergraduate medical student performance on written assessment, measured at the start and end of medical school.
settingFour Scottish medical schools (universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow).
participants1512 medical students who attempted (but did not necessarily pass) final written assessment.
main outcome measuresThe study modelled the change in attainment gap during medical school for four student demographical categories (white/non-white, international/Scottish domiciled, male/female and with/without a known disability) to test whether the attainment gap grew, shrank or remained stable during medical school. Separately, the study modelled the expected versus actual frequency of different demographical groups in the top and bottom decile of the cohort.
resultsThe attainment gap grew significantly for white versus non-white students (
conclusionsThe tendency for attainment gaps to grow during undergraduate medical education suggests that educational factors at medical schools may-however inadvertently-contribute to DA. It is of critical importance that medical schools investigate attainment gaps within their cohorts and explore potential underlying causes.
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Registered trials
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