Does prior healthcare experience predict success on clinical courses and add value to admissions processes?

Objectives This work sought to assess whether prior clinical experience provided any guide to likely course achievement from three completed cohorts of Physician Associates at the University of Sheffield. Methods Sixty students who entered the PA course at TUoS since it began in 2016 were included in the study. Each students’ original course application was reviewed for healthcare experience and mapped against first sit examination scores. Statistical analysis was undertaken with a two-tailed t-test. Results No correlation was found between previous healthcare experience and performance in examinations. Students with previous healthcare experience performed slightly worse than those without in the OSCE examination but not at a level of statistical significance. Conclusions The use of clinical experience as part of the criteria of entry does not predict success on a Physician Associate course. We support the position of the 2010 Ottawa conference that quality assured methodologies along with objective cut offs for previous academic attainment are the most appropriate way to select students for clinical courses.