Editor's Response

Grading of Physicians during Training and Thereafter

Authors: Steven Baldwin, MD

Abstract

This response is intended to expand upon the Letter to the Editor by Bohler1 regarding the grading of physicians during the training and posttraining portions of their careers. Grading people and processes is commonplace in medicine. Most medical students receive considerable exposure to grades during their premedical school years. Some experience suggests grades are subjective or unreliable reflections of the pre hoc grading criteria and goals. Grades may lead to hypercompetitiveness, anxiety, stress, and other characteristics related to the potential for nonsuperlative grades to negatively affect one’s likelihood of being admitted to medical school.

This content is limited to qualifying members.

Existing members, please login first

If you have an existing account please login now to access this article or view purchase options.

Purchase only this article ($25)

Create a free account, then purchase this article to download or access it online for 24 hours.

Purchase an SMJ online subscription ($75)

Create a free account, then purchase a subscription to get complete access to all articles for a full year.

Purchase a membership plan (fees vary)

Premium members can access all articles plus recieve many more benefits. View all membership plans and benefit packages.

References

1. Bohler F. Outlining the need for grading uniformity among preclinical coursework for medical school curriculums. South Med J 2023;116:698.
 
2. Levy J, Kausar H, Patel D, et al. College competitiveness and medical school exam performance. BMC Med Educ 2022;22:780.
 
3. Ange B, Wood EA, Thomas A, et al. Differences in medical students’ academic performance between a pass/fail and tiered grading system. South Med J 2018;111:683–687.
 
4. Spring L, Robillard D, Gehlbach L, et al. Impact of pass/fail grading on medical students’ well-being and academic outcomes.Med Educ 2011;45:867–877.
 
5. Boysen-Osborn M, Yanuck J, Mattson J, et al. Who to interview? Low adherence by U.S. medical schools to medical student performance evaluation format makes resident selection difficult. West J Emerg Med 2017;18:50–55.