Use of the Paired-Comparison Technique to Determine the Most Valued Qualities of the McMaster Medical Programme Admissions Process

The Undergraduate Medical Programme at McMasterUniversity selects students using acomprehensive set of tools. Attempts to modifythe selection process over many years have beenimpeded by an inability to reconcile verystrongly held views among stakeholders as tothe importance of the selection tools and,indeed, the very purposes of the admissionprocess. The objective of this study was toidentify key `qualities' of the selectionprocess and to measure their relativeimportance to admissions process assessors.Through a qualitative review of internalresearch documents, Medical ProgrammeAdmissions Committee meeting minutes, memos andaccreditation surveys eight qualities of theadmissions process were identified: validity,fairness, accessibility, comprehensiveness,affordability, legal defensibility,contribution to class diversity and the role ofthe process as a public statement of theProgramme's values. Faculty, students andcommunity admissions assessors were surveyed,by mail, using a paired-comparisons technique.The overall response rate was 58%. By a widemargin, all three groups of admissionsassessors valued validity and fairness mosthighly. The least valued qualities wereaffordability and the role of the process as astatement of our values. Possible applicationsof this approach to the admissions processdeliberations are discussed.