A comparison of students from main and alternate admission lists at one school: the potential impact on student performance of increasing enrollment.

If medical schools increase enrollment to meet anticipated physician shortages, more students from alternate lists will likely be accepted. This study compared the performance of alternate- and main-list students during and one year after medical school.The authors assessed admission and performance measures for 1,188 students matriculating from 1997-2003 at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Measures included Medical College Admission Test scores, basic and clinical science grade point averages, United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 and Step 2 scores, residency match information, and residency director ratings. Chi-square analyses, proportional analyses, and independent t-tests were performed.The results indicated that both the admission measures and performance of alternate-list students were generally lower than main-list students, but the differences were small and probably not meaningful.As long as the applicant pool does not substantially change from its current makeup, increasing enrollment by accepting more students from alternate lists may not adversely affect overall student performance.