Medical students are considered to have performed favorably if they graduate without repeating a year and pass the National Examination for Medical Practitioners on the first attempt. The 715 students who entered Osaka Medical College from 1991 through 1997 were divided into groups on the basis of sex and the interval between high school graduation and medical college entrance. The percentages of students having performed favorably were compared between the groups. The rate of favorable performance in medical courses (and of passing the National Examination on the first attempt) was higher for students who entered college immediately after high school graduation than for students who entered college more than 1 year after graduating from high school. However, when students were divided by sex, male students showed this difference, but not female students did not. Next, we divided the 715 students into two groups on the basis of whether they chose biology as a subject for the college entrance examination. We found no difference in the rate of favorable performance between students who chose and did not choose biology. Therefore, we conclude that students can perform well in medical college, even if they do not choose biology as an entrance examination subject. However, among female students who entered college directly after high school graduation, the rate of favorable performance was higher for those who chose biology than for those who did not choose biology.

Studying the correlation between the results of the Common Achievement Test (basic objective structured clinical examination [OSCE] and computer-based testing [CBT]) and the results of advanced OSCE in the same examinees is necessary to improve clinical clerkships and to establish the role of each examination.
1) Ninety-seven students took the Common Achievement Test CBT and the basic OSCE in their fourth year and took the advanced OSCE in their sixth year. The Common Achievement Test basic OSCE were composed of interview, chest, abdomen, neurology, and head and neck stations, and the CBT included blocks 1-4 and 5-6. The advanced OSCE had 3 scenarios in the chest station, 2 in the abdomen station, and 4 in the neurology station. Each scenario had 3 items. We also examined the pass analysis on the basis of these 3 items in the advanced OSCE.
2) The results of the Common Achievement Test basic OSCE interview did not correlate significantly with the results of the interview station of the advanced OSCE. The results of physical examinations in the Common Achievement Test basic OSCE, excluding the chest, did not correlate significantly with the results of the physical examination stations of the advanced OSCE.
3) In the advanced OSCE, an adequate medical interview is necessary for the physical examination. An adequate physical examination is also necessary for answering the written tests (e.g., differential diagnosis). 4) Students should have sufficient basic knowledge and motivation for successfully performing clinical clerkships, because the correlations among the results of the advanced OSCE interview, the OSCE total score, the Common Achievement Test basic OSCE and CBT score were extremely strong.
5) The advanced OSCE, the Common Achievement Test basic OSCE, and CBT have distinct characteristics and roles.