A Guide to the Preparation of the Medical
Student
Performance Evaluation (MSPE)
The format and composition for the Medical Student Performance
Evaluation (MSPE) for The Pennsylvania State College of
Medicine conforms to the guidelines established by the
AAMC Dean's Letter Advisory Committee, 2002.
The MSPE is a comprehensive assessment, composed on
behalf of the medical school faculty, regarding a student's
performance, as compared to his/her peers, in achieving
the educational objectives of the medical school curriculum.
The MSPE is neither a letter of recommendation nor the
school's prediction of the student's future performance
in a residency program.
Name and Purpose The name of the dean's letter has been changed,
effective immediately, to Medical Student Performance
Evaluation (MSPE) in order to reflect its purpose as an
evaluation of a medical student's performance (rather
than a recommendation or prediction of future performance).
The MSPE describes, in a sequential manner, a student's
performance, as compared to that of his/her peers, through
three full years of medical school and, as much as possible,
the fourth year. The MSPE includes an assessment of both
the student's academic performance and professional attributes.
Composition Final authority for composing the MSPE, as an
institutional assessment composed on behalf of the medical
school faculty, should rest with a professional person,
at the faculty level in the institution, who has access
to all relevant evaluation data for all students. Ideally,
the process by which the MSPE is composed should include
a personal meeting with each student.
Content The MSPE contains six sections:
Identifying Information
Student's legal name.
Name and location of the medical school.
Unique Characteristics This section includes a brief statement about
the unique characteristics of the student, as follows:
Information about special considerations, including
any distinguishing characteristics exhibited by the
student in medical school (e.g., demonstrated leadership
and research abilities, participation in community service
activities).
Information about any significant challenges or
hardships encountered by the student during medical
school.
Academic History
The month and year of the student's initial matriculation
in, and expected graduation from, medical school.
An explanation based on school-specific policies,
of any extensions, leave(s) of absence, gap(s), or
break(s) in the student's educational program.
Information about the student's prior, current,
or expected enrollment in, and the month and year of
the student's expected graduation from, dual, joint,
or combined degree programs.
Information, based upon school-specific policies,
of coursework that the student was required to repeat
or otherwise remediate during the student's medical
educator.
Information, based on school-specific policies,
of any adverse action(s) imposed on the student by
the medical school or its parent institution.
Academic Progress This section includes information about the student's
academic performance and professional attributed in preclinical/basic
science coursework and core clinical and elective rotations,
as follows:
Narrative information regarding the student's overall
(rather than course-specific) performance in the preclinical/basic
science curriculum.
Narrative information regarding the student's overall
performance on each core clinical clerkship and elective
rotation completed to date, with a focus on summative,
rather than formative, comments by clerkship/elective
directors. This information should be provided in the
chronological order in which the student completed
each core clinical clerkship and elective rotation.
Information should be provided about the location of
any "away" elective rotations.
Narrative information about the student's level
of initiative, enthusiasm, and ability to self-start
in all curricular components.
An assessment of the student's compatibility with faculty
members, peers, other members of the health care team,
and patients during all curricular components.
Summary This section includes a summative assessment,
based upon the school's evaluation system, of the student's
comparative performance in medical school, relative to
his/her peers, including information about any school-specific
categories used in differentiating among levels of student
performance.
Penn State's College of Medicine uses the following
summative assessment of comparative performance relative
to peers:
Superior 5%
Outstanding 25%
Excellent 50%
Very Good 20%
Appendices
A graphic representation of the student's performance,
relative to his/her peers, in each core third-year clinical
clerkship.
Timeline The MSPE is completed upon the successful completion
of all core clinical clerkships (Family Medicine, Primary
Care Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Surgery) in the third year
(or their institutional equivalents).
Length and Format The MSPE should be a two-to-three page, single-spaced,
appropriately formatted document, with five appendices.
The MSPE should be typed, single-spaced, in New Times
Roman, 12-point font with a one-inch margin on each side.
Student review
The MSPE, as an institutional assessment, should be considered
a component of the students' academic record and, thus,
be available for a student's review. The student should
be permitted to correct factual errors in the MSPE, but
not to revise evaluative statements in the MSPE.
Mode of delivery The MSPE will be delivered via ERAS in a computer
file compatible with an Internet-based delivery system.
Release date The MSPE release date will continue to be November
1.
Information modified for The Pennsylvania
State University College of Medicine from the AAMC's
A Guide to the Preparation of the Medical Student Performance
Evaluation
