ERIC Number: ED216627
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1982-Mar
Pages: 12
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Competence and Performance of Foreign Medical Graduates: Research and Implications.
Kulieke, Marilynn J.; And Others
Research on the quality of foreign medical graduates (FMG) in terms of their competence or manifest abilities as measured by examinations, and their performance or actual behavior is briefly reviewed. In addition, some of the methodological problems that make research on foreign medical graduates difficult to interpret are critiqued, and implications based on the limitations of FMG research are discussed. FMGs consistently do not score as well as U.S. medical graduates on written competence examinations. Differences in FMG performance on behavioral measures illustrate mixed findings with some studies showing poorer performance and other showing no difference. Some of the studies illustrate that FMGs are not a homogeneous group. FMGs from different countries and medical schools show variance in their competence and performance. Additionally, study findings illustrate that there are several different variables other than place of medical school that also seem to affect performance and competence (e.g., quality of residence training, number of attempts on an examination). Criticisms regarding research methodology center on an outcome rather than a process orientation, insensitivity to the heterogeneity of FMGs, a lack of complexity in data analysis procedures, and indeterminate validity of outcome measures. Processes that affect examination scores are identified that should be assessed including: the quality of medical training, effort put into training, barriers to assimilating training, mental set at the time of the examination, and experience with taking examinations. (SW)
Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Achievement Rating, Competence, Data Analysis, Educational Background, Educational Quality, Evaluation Criteria, Foreign Countries, Foreign Medical Graduates, Higher Education, Individual Characteristics, Medical Education, Performance, Research Methodology, Research Problems, Skills, Student Evaluation, Testing Problems
Publication Type: Opinion Papers; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (New York, NY, March 1982).