Predicting Academic Achievement in the Medical School with High School Grades
Cherdsak Iramaneerat MD, MHPE*
Affiliation : * Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University
Objective : The present study investigated whether high school grades can predict medical school grades after
controlling for the effects of demographics and entrance examination scores.
Materials and Methods : The authors used hierarchical multiple regression analyses to predict medical school
grades of 223 medical students in the 1997 entering class of the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Thailand,
using age, gender, entrance examination scores, and high school grades as predictors.
Results : After controlling for demographics and entrance examination scores, high school grades provided
significant prediction only for premedical grades. The type of entrance examination that students took and the
type of high school curriculum that the students studied were significant predictors of medical school grades
in every level.
Conclusion : Measures of cognitive abilities in academic content were good in predicting short-term aca-
demic achievement. Long-term academic achievement in the medical school could be better predicted from
academic orientation, commitment to the medical study, and demographic traits.
Keywords : Predictive validity, High school grades, Medical school grades
