The roles of personal interview and cognitive abilities at admission to medical school in predicting performance of medical students in their internal medicine sub-internship

BACKGROUND: The medical school admission process is complicated, perhaps reflecting unresolved debates concerning the most important skills necessary to become an ideal physician. The Goldman Medical School at Ben-Gurion University in Israel is known for placing great emphasis on the personal attributes of candidates in addition to their academic excellence. To this end, 1-h consecutive interviews are embedded in the admission process. This study aims to determine whether there is an association between candidates’ personal interview ratings and the ratings assigned to these students at the conclusion of their 6(th) year internal medicine sub-internship. METHODS: Our study sample included 136 students who were admitted to the medical school in 2015, and who completed their 6(th) year internal medicine sub-internship in 2019–2020. Our data were derived from the admissions information for each candidate and from structured interviews concerning medical competence and personal traits, which were completed by medical personnel who were in contact with these students during their clinical rounds. RESULTS: Higher interview ratings of candidates during the admission process were associated with a higher probability that students would be evaluated as top-rated internists 6 years later (Odds Ratio (OR) = 9.4, p-value = 0.049), independent of gender (OR for male vs female = 0.2, p-value = 0.025) and age (OR = 1.3 per each year, p-value = 0.115). Although significant, the numeric difference in interview rating was relatively small (median 9.5 and 9.4 for top-rated and not top-rated internists, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that high personal interview ratings assigned to candidates as part of the medical school admission process are predictive of high performance ratings of students after they complete their 6(th) year internal medicine sub-internships. These findings demonstrate the value and importance of using semi-structured personal interviews in the medical school admission process. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-022-03614-1.