The study group was composed of students who had graduated from NYIT-COM between 2009 and 2012. Students were included if they had been enrolled in the traditional, systems-based pathway and had passed the COMLEX-USA Level 1 and Level 2-CE on the first attempt. The university's institutional review board deemed the current study exempt. Student records were coded to protect anonymity.
The COMLEX-USA Level 1 emphasizes the scientific concepts and principles of basic science that are relevant to solving medical problems, and the COMLEX-USA Level 2-CE emphasizes the medical concepts and principles necessary to make appropriate medical diagnoses through patient history and physical examination. The Level 1 and Level 2-CE scores used were those reported by NBOME to NYIT-COM.
Medical school performance was measured using course grades during the first 2 years and NBOME clinical science subject scores during years 3 and 4. The course grades, obtained from institutional databases, comprised the subject of introduction to osteopathic medicine, as well as the following system courses: musculoskeletal, integumentary, neuroscience, hematology and immunology, cardiovascular and pulmonary, endocrinology, gastrointestinal, reproduction, and genitourinary. The clinical subject examinations, obtained from the NBOME, were given after the clinical clerkships of principles of osteopathic manipulative medicine, family medicine, medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, and surgery.
Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores and the total and science undergraduate grade point averages (GPAs) were obtained from the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service.
Comparisons of the data between sexes were measured using the 2-tailed t test for independent samples. Statistical significance was defined as P≤.05. An analysis of covariance was also performed. All statistical analyses were calculated using SPSS statistical software (version 22.0, SPSS Inc).