Is there a relationship between good MCAT scores and good doctoring?

[newyorkcougar]

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There has been debate in other threads on standardized tests such as the MCAT. Some people feel that they don't show anything other than the ability to perform on standardized tests. Others think they are good euqlizers. What do you think?

Vote and leave a message.

 

[DrB]

Just good standardizers not good equlizers...

As a science undergraduate I don't think the MCAT tested my abilities only my reading comprehension... OK so a few stand alone questions tested my science knowledge, but overall I feel cheated! 😡

 

[Shinken]

Good MCAT scores are an absolute requirement to become a good doctor!

Just the other day I went to the emergency department because of a sports injury. I asked the doctor, "If I throw a rock at an angle of 30 degrees and an initial velocity of 250 mph on a 200 foot tall hill, how long will the rock take to hit the ground?". The doctor took more than 2 minutes to answer, and his answer was wrong! I'll never see that doctor again. What a quack.

Almost reminds me of another quack I saw the other day in one of my clinical rotations. He really knew how to talk to patients, and his knowledge of diseases and therapies was top notch, but he couldn't figure out the products of a Claisen ester condensation! Geez. How do people like that become doctors in the first place?!?

 

[stoic]

It's my understanding that the only thing the MCAT really correlates to is step 1 board scores.

It's an important piece of data for adcoms to have, but it's not the holy grail of med admissions.

 

[DD214_DOC]

It's my understanding that the only thing the MCAT really correlates to is step 1 board scores.

It's an important piece of data for adcoms to have, but it's not the holy grail of med admissions.

The causation of this correlation is most likely (as most of you probably have already figured out) the study habits and skills of the individual, which translates into good MCAT scores and good Step 1 scores.

From what med students have been saying, Step 1 is nothing like the MCAT. I don't believe it to be impossible to score poorly on the MCAT and score decent or higher on Step 1.

Ultimately your grades and MCAT scores are just predictors of your study skills and habits and, as a result, your ability to survive in medical school. Nothing more.

 

[Shinken]

It's my understanding that the only thing the MCAT really correlates to is step 1 board scores.

It's an important piece of data for adcoms to have, but it's not the holy grail of med admissions.

I agree. Unfortunately, many schools do consider the MCAT too highly. I can't say I blame them, especially when the schools are flooded with qualified applicants. I guess if a particular school has a large pool of applicants, the school can have the luxury of picking out the best MCAT/gpa scores, even though those might not correlate with becoming a good doctor. It's easier to narrow down a large pool of applicants by looking at the numbers than by reading essays and trying to figure out more subjective factors.

 

[emtp2pac]

step 2 and step 3 of usmle are probably better indicators of medical knowledge as mcat and step 1 cover mostly basic sciences and nothing clinically relevant.

 

[Ypo.]

What a loaded question. One I am going to evade. I will however say that you don't need to be a genius to be a doctor-you just need to have average intelligence, a good work ethic, and the right reasons for going into medicine. 🙂

 

[Ypo.]

Good MCAT scores are an absolute requirement to become a good doctor!

Just the other day I went to the emergency department because of a sports injury. I asked the doctor, "If I throw a rock at an angle of 30 degrees and an initial velocity of 250 mph on a 200 foot tall hill, how long will the rock take to hit the ground?". The doctor took more than 2 minutes to answer, and his answer was wrong! I'll never see that doctor again. What a quack.

Almost reminds me of another quack I saw the other day in one of my clinical rotations. He really knew how to talk to patients, and his knowledge of diseases and therapies was top notch, but he couldn't figure out the products of a Claisen ester condensation! Geez. How do people like that become doctors in the first place?!?

HA! ha ha ha ha!!!
I know what you mean, when I was studying for the MCAT, I made sure to being a few of those practice questions along to my next physical exam. Well, come to find out, my doctor couldn't even get one of those questions right! I was shocked, and decided to drop him as my PCP right then and there.

I would advise everyone to bring a set of general physics, chemistry and verbal reasoning questions to any doctor you are considering as a care provider. If they can't answer those questions, you should definitely consider another doctor. Don't wait until its too late. You never know when his lack of knowledge in the basic sciences might cost you your life! 😱