‘10% of your medical students will cause 90% of your problems’: a prospective correlational study

ObjectivesOur aim was to explore the relationship between medical student Conscientiousness Index scores and indicators of later clinical performance held in the UK Medical Education Database (UKMED). Objectives were to determine whether conscientiousness in first-year and second-year medical students predicts later performance in medical school and in early practice. Policy implications would permit targeted remediation where necessary or aid in selection.DesignA prospective correlational study.SettingA single UK medical school and early years of practice, 2005–2018.ParticipantsThe data were obtained from the UKMED on 858 students. Full outcome data was available for variable numbers of participants, as described in the text.Main outcome measuresScores on the UK Foundation Programme Office’s Situational Judgement Test (SJT) and Educational Performance Measure (EPM), the Prescribing Safety Assessment (PSA) and Annual Review of Competency Progression (ARCP) outcomes.ResultsLinear regression analysis shows Conscientiousness Index scores significantly correlate with pregraduate and postgraduate performance variables: SJT scores (R=0.373, R2=0.139, B=0.066, p