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Open research questions in Medical Education and Admissions

150 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 1,138 Medical Education and Admissions papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • The challenge of explaining the recruitment-retention paradox in the UK psychiatry workforce. The difficulty of moving beyond short-term recruitment metrics towards progression, retention, and long-term workforce sustainability. The need to address the misalignment between recruitment and retention, and the cumulative workforce loss due to misalignment, motivational erosion, and identity strain.

    The pressurised leaky funnel: rethinking recruitment, selection and retention in the UK psychiatry workforce · 2026 · DOI

  • The current workforce discourse treats recruitment, selection, and retention as separate policy domains. The lack of a framework that explains the recruitment-retention paradox and moves beyond short-term recruitment metrics. The need to understand the interaction between person-specialty alignment at selection and retention over time.

    The pressurised leaky funnel: rethinking recruitment, selection and retention in the UK psychiatry workforce · 2026 · DOI

  • Medical schools combine prior academic achievement, aptitude tests, interviews, and other measures to select applicants, but the predictive contribution of each component is context-dependent, and the study institution's own weighted admission composite had not been evaluated against its written examinations since its adoption.

    Association Between Admission Criteria and Written Summative Examination Performance Among Medical Students: A Retrospective Cohort Study · 2026 · DOI

  • Background Information regarding the prediction of dentistry students’ academic performances using machine learning (ML) techniques is lacking.

    Machine Learning Methods to Predict the Academic Performance of Pre‐Clinical Dental Students Based on Pre‐University Information · 2026 · DOI

  • However, various selection criteria components are not investigated for their predictive validity.

    Measurement of predictive validity of admission criteria used by public dental colleges in Pakistan. Time to reconsider · 2025 · DOI

  • Considering that empirical research on gender differences in satisfaction remains rather scarce, this study explored the gender differences in satisfaction with doctoral studies as well as the underlying rationales for these differences, utilising data from 6372 doctoral students in 108 countries in the 2019 Nature Global Doctoral Student Survey.

    Are female students less satisfied with doctoral candidacy experiences? Evidence from 108 countries · 2025 · DOI

  • However, limited evidence exists on their association with academic achievement during medical education.

    Application to achievement: association between pre-admission factors, admission scores, and medical students’ performance · 2025 · DOI

  • Moreover, the relationship between its individual components and subsequent academic achievement remains unexplored.

    Application to achievement: association between pre-admission factors, admission scores, and medical students’ performance · 2025 · DOI

  • However, a controversy has arisen because prior studies offer conflicting results.

    Unlocking student potential through engagement: exploring the learning outcomes and career intentions of medical students transferring from junior colleges to undergraduate universities in China · 2025 · DOI

  • BACKGROUND: While achievement emotions have gained prominence in education, research remains scarce in interprofessional education (IPE) contexts where students also experience complex combinations of emotions.

    Exploring health and allied science students’ achievement emotions profiles: a person-centered analysis · 2025 · DOI

  • Globally, various factors have been associated with the decision of students leaving high school to pursue an undergraduate degree in pharmacy, however, this topic has not yet been explored in Vietnam.

    Factors Affecting the Decision of First-Year Pharmacy Students to Study Pharmacy in Can Tho, Vietnam · 2024 · DOI

  • Even though few studies were done in Ethiopia, there was no clear evidence regarding the role of cognitive and learning issues such as academic competence, test competence, time management, strategic studying, and test anxiety on the academic performance of students.

    Magnitude of academic performance and its associated factors among health science students at Eastern Ethiopia University's 2022 · 2024 · DOI

  • Few studies have investigated differences in learning strategies between male and female students as well as their impact on United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE) Step 1 and preclinical performance.

    Gender differences in learning and study strategies impact medical students’ preclinical and USMLE step 1 examination performance · 2024 · DOI

  • Future studies can use longitudinal designs to establish causality between resilience and academic engagement. Future studies can examine the relationship between resilience and academic engagement in different medical education contexts. Future studies can develop and test interventions to promote academic engagement and resilience in medical students.

    Phase-contingent resilience effects in multilingual medical students: a cross-sectional examination of student demands-resources theory · 2026 · DOI

  • Prior research has not fully examined the relationship between resilience and academic engagement in multilingual medical students. The study aims to address this gap by assessing the relationship between resilience and academic engagement in a multilingual medical cohort.

    Phase-contingent resilience effects in multilingual medical students: a cross-sectional examination of student demands-resources theory · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identified several drawbacks, including excessive focus on clinical decision making. The findings highlighted the importance of considering contextual details in SJT scenarios. The study was limited to a specific context, namely residency selection in Indonesia.

    Incorporating a non-cognitive selection method in the residency program: the complexities of effective situational judgment test item writing · 2026 · DOI

  • Future studies can build on the findings of this research to develop more effective SJT items. Further research is needed to explore the use of SJTs in different contexts. The study's insights can inform the development of more comprehensive selection methods for medical residency programs.

    Incorporating a non-cognitive selection method in the residency program: the complexities of effective situational judgment test item writing · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of studies assessing the external validity of the correlation between an algebra-based pre-test and calculation assessment performances. There is a need to identify variables associated with poor assessment performance.

    Predicting performance of pharmacy calculations assessments via an algebra-based pre-test and other variables using a logistical regression model: A pilot study · 2026 · DOI

  • The intense competition for limited places requires a large and continually refreshed pool of MMI stations to maintain test security and ensure fairness for all applicants. The development of high-quality MMI stations remains challenging due to the need for expert input and the time-consuming process of developing and validating new stations.

    AI-Generated Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) Stations for Medical School Admissions: Psychometric Evaluation · 2026 · DOI

  • The development of high-quality MMI stations is resource intensive and dependent on expert input. There is a need for innovative approaches to generate psychometrically sound assessment content for high-stakes medical school selection processes.

    AI-Generated Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) Stations for Medical School Admissions: Psychometric Evaluation · 2026 · DOI

  • Future studies can investigate the impact of support programs on international student adjustment. Future research can explore the role of faculty feedback in facilitating international student adaptation. Future studies can examine the effects of different instructional modalities on international student outcomes.

    PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ADAPTATION UNDER CURRENT EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of research on the academic adaptation of international students to modified educational requirements within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war since 2022. There is a need to understand the challenges faced by international students in adapting to new educational environments.

    PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ADAPTATION UNDER CURRENT EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should investigate the impact of attendance policies on academic performance. Studies should explore the relationship between practical class attendance and clinical performance. Research should examine the effectiveness of strategies to encourage student attendance and engagement in practical classes.

    Impact of practical class attendance on performance in health professions education · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a gap in the literature regarding the impact of attendance policies on academic performance. The review highlights the uncertainty regarding the size of the relationship between practical class attendance and academic performance.

    Impact of practical class attendance on performance in health professions education · 2026 · DOI

  • The study only included students from one university. The sample size was limited to 243 BC entrants and 523 direct entrants.

    Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Student Challenges of Bridging Course Programs: A Comparison with Direct Entry Pathways · 2026 · DOI

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150 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 1,138 Medical Education and Admissions papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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