Graduate entry into a medical program might confer some benefit in academic performance over undergraduate entry especially for students with a primary degree in health or allied health.
A study from the University of Western Australia compared student performance and progression in school leavers, non-standard entry undergraduates and graduate level entrants to their MBBS program.
School leavers and non-standard entry students entered the first year of the 6-year program while graduate entry students completed a 6-month bridging course before joining the other students in years 3-6.
The study found graduate entry students typically performed better than undergraduates in the early years of their medical degree but the differences were no longer obvious in the final two years of study.
Over years 3-6 of the program the weighted average mark (%) was mostly higher for graduates with a health or allied health background than other graduate entry students or undergraduates.
School leavers and non-standard entry students were more likely to take a leave of absence over their study program than graduate entrants. Non-standard entry students were also more likely to repeat a year than other students.
Graduate entry students had an increased odds of withdrawing from the program compared to schools leavers (OR 2.50) – predominantly driven by non-academic withdrawal such as personal reasons – but not when compared to non-standard entrants.
Overall program completion was 95.1% for graduate entry students, 97.9% for school leaver entrants and 95.9% for non-standard entry students.
Males scored significantly lower than females at every level of the course.
The researchers said better performance of graduate entry students as been attributed to more strategic learning approaches and the additional role of maturity.