THE INTRODUCTION last year of an aptitude test for medical school entry resulted in a significant number of candidates getting into medicine who would not have otherwise secured places, the annual conference of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) heard at the weekend.
Dr Siun O’Flynn, a member of the national research group evaluating revised entry mechanisms to medicine, refused to say precisely how many students benefited. She said that data would be published soon, but stressed the numbers who got in as a result of the HPAT (Health Professions Admission Test) was “not an insignificant number”.
“It made a significant difference. There are students in medical school who would not have got in before . . . they are now suffering from survivor guilt,” she said.
The change may also have benefited students from lower socioeconomic groups, she added, pointing out that one girl wrote to her saying she was the first person in her school for years to get a place in medicine.
Dr O’Flynn stressed though that a second change introduced at the same time as the HPAT – a requirement that Leaving Cert points had to be obtained in a single sitting of the exam – also had an impact on the candidates who got to study medicine in 2009.
Some 83 per cent of successful applicants for the course in 2009 were first-time Leaving Cert students, compared to 59 per cent in 2008.
Addressing delegates, she stressed that there was no perfect aptitude test for medicine, and that Ireland may also need to look at whether interviews should form part of the selection process as new data was emerging.
In relation to suggestions that Leaving Cert students in the future may be awarded double points for honours maths, she said: “Until I can see evidence that performance in maths predicts if you will be a better doctor or you will perform better in medical school, I wouldn’t suggest that you double the points for maths.”
She also said the evidence so far suggested there was “no statistical benefit” for students attending commercial courses in preparation for the HPAT exam, but this was now being looked into. The conference heard some parents were paying up to €6,000 for such courses.
“If I was a parent spending €6,000, I’d want to see evidence that the course my child was taking conferred some benefit,” she said. Instead of commercial courses, she advised students to go through the practice tests on the HPAT website.
In reply to concerns among delegates that students sitting the exam in February have to wait months for the results, she said that this tended to be the practice in most countries with such an exam.
“The thinking is that releasing the results causes candidates to make decisions on only one aspect of the entry and selection process, so that it’s almost encouraging false decision-making,” she said.
The HPAT allows all Leaving Cert students with over 480 points to apply for medicine.
Entry is decided by a combination of CAO points and HPAT results, which examines spatial and logical reasoning, problem-solving and interpersonal skills.
The change last year saw students with near perfect Leaving results not getting places in medicine, but Dr O’Flynn said she had met more delighted candidates and parents than disappointed ones. However, she said she felt sorry for the disappointed ones.