Medicine: New quota 2 test being implemented
The new quota 2 test, which have been developed in connection with the doubling of quota 2 admissions to the degree programme in medicine at AU, are now being implemented. The test will assess the applicants' collaborative skills and robustness with a series of admission interviews. An evaluation has shown good results in relation to the validity of the tests.
The application deadline for the coming medical students who wish to apply via quota 2 is 15 March. This year, twenty per cent of the new students will be admitted via quota 2, which is twice as many as in previous years. For the first time, quota 2 applicants will face a multiple-choice test and admission interviews, which will ensure that the coveted student places are offered to the most suitable applicants.
Applicants assessed by doctors
Inspiration for the design of the interviews was found at international universities and the University of Southern Denmark, where mini interviews for quota 2 admissions have been used for a number of years.
"We use interviews to test the applicants for some of the human competences which are particularly important for a medical doctor, such as communication skills, the ability to have empathy, collaborative skills and robustness. They face a total of eight brief interviews at which they must solve various tasks. Various representatives from among future employers, including heads of degree programmes and consultants, as well as clinical associate professors, will assess each interview. The employers have also helped determine the human competences that the applicants will be tested for. We believe that this close collaboration with the people who will be employing our graduates strengthens this test," says Lotte O'Neill, associate professor at the Centre for Health Sciences Education (CESU) at Aarhus University.
The new quota 2 admission interviews were tested in a pilot project in November 2015. The evaluation shows that the interviews are relatively free of assessor bias. The written admission test and admission interviews are therefore being introduced now and will continue for the next five years, after which the entire quota 2 project will be evaluated.
Marks are not necessarily the most important element
The increased quota 2 admission and the new test have been introduced in order to give highly motivated applicants who do not have an average mark of 11 an extra chance to become a medical doctor.
"We know from studies that average marks are still the strongest indicator of whether students will be successful in a post-secondary degree. But marks are not necessarily the only criterion for finding the most suitable students for a degree programme. That is why we want to provide an extra chance for those students who have both a burning desire to be a doctor and the competences to succeed," says Charlotte Ringsted, vice-dean for education at Health.
Another possible benefit of the new admission procedures is that they may be able to prevent drop-out. This has been one effect of new admission procedures at the University of Southern Denmark and in several other countries.
The project will be closely monitored at AU as the university is considering whether to introduce it for other degree programmes with high admission requirements such as psychology.
The quota 2 admission tests at medicine
- Applicants must have an average mark of at least six, they must meet the required levels for a number of subjects and must also have at least six months of work experience.
- Applicants' cognitive competences are assessed using a multiple-choice test with around 100 questions. Applicants are tested for quantitative, critical and linguistic reasoning.
- Approximately 200 applicants progress to a set of brief admission interviews. They face eight interviews, each of which takes eight minutes, and all of which test the applicants' competences within communication, collaboration, empathy and robustness. Applicants are assessed by representatives from among their future employers, including heads of degree programmes, senior hospital physicians, clinical associate professors and communication professionals from the Central Denmark Region.
- The result of the final test determines which applicants receive an offer of one of the 96 quota 2 places on the medical degree programme.
Read more
Read CESU’s evaluation of the pilot test of the admission interviews at medicine (in Danish only).
Further information
Lotte O'Neill, associate professor at the Centre for Health Sciences Education (CESU)
Health, Aarhus University
Tel.: (+45) 8620 5239
lotte@cesu.au.dk