Comparisons of Validity of the New and Prior MCAT Exams in Predicting Performances on Steps 1, 2, and 3 of the United States Medical Licensing Examinations.

Authors

• Aaron Douglas
• Alisa Alfonsi LoSasso
• Bernard L Lopez
• Charles Pohl
• Anita Wilson
• Mohammadreza Hojat

Publication/Presentation Date

1-1-2026

Abstract

This study examined the validity of the new MCAT exam (administered since 2015) for predicting medical students' performance on United States Medical Licensing Examinations (USMLE) and compared the findings with those of the prior MCAT version. Participants comprised two samples of students who entered Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University between 2012 and 2020. One sample included 1,111 students (559 men, 552 women) with new MCAT scores who matriculated between 2016 and 2020, and the other comprised 1,312 students (668 men, 644 women) with prior MCAT scores who matriculated between 2012 and 2015. We used students' MCAT scores as predictors of performance on Steps 1, 2, and 3 of the USMLE. Bivariate correlations and path analysis were used for statistical analyses. Path analysis showed new MCAT total scores resulted in

Volume

38

Issue

2

First Page

255

Last Page

263

ISSN

1532-8015

Published In/Presented At

Douglas, A., LoSasso, A. A., Lopez, B. L., Pohl, C., Wilson, A., & Hojat, M. (2026). Comparisons of Validity of the New and Prior MCAT Exams in Predicting Performances on Steps 1, 2, and 3 of the United States Medical Licensing Examinations. Teaching and learning in medicine, 38(2), 255–263. https://doi.org/10.1080/10401334.2025.2495353

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods

PubMedID

40308042

Department(s)

Administration and Leadership

Document Type

Article