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. 2025 May 23:16:891-901.
doi: 10.2147/AMEP.S515141. eCollection 2025.

Correlation of GPA with Final MBBS Examination Scores Among Students on Three Campuses of the University of the West Indies

Alok Kumar  1 , Kandamaran Krishnamurthy  1 , Michael H Campbell  1 , Kenneth L Connell  1 , Paula Michele Lashley  1 , Shastri Motilal  2 , Md Anwarul Azim Majumder  1
Affiliations

Correlation of GPA with Final MBBS Examination Scores Among Students on Three Campuses of the University of the West Indies

Alok Kumar et al. Adv Med Educ Pract. .

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the correlation between in-course grade point average (GPA) and exit examination scores in a five-year undergraduate medical program in a Small Island Developing State setting.

Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at three campuses of a single multinational university, involving 470 students. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to measure the strength of association between GPA and scores on various components of the final examination, as well as to determine the predictive value of GPA for overall performance on the examination.

Results: GPA showed a strong positive correlation (>0.7) with the written Medicine and Therapeutics exam scores in cohort 1, and a moderate positive correlation (0.5-0.7) in cohorts 2 and 3. Written Obstetrics and Gynecology scores were moderately positively (0.5-0.7) correlated across all cohorts. For written Surgery exams, the correlation was moderately positive in cohorts 1 and 3 but weak (<0.5) in cohort 2. GPA and scores from the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) component of Medicine and Therapeutics exam showed moderate positive correlation in all three student cohorts; the Obstetrics and Gynecology OSCE showed moderately positive correlation with GPA in cohorts 1 and 3 and weakly so in cohort 2; the Surgery OSCE showed moderate positive correlation with GPA in cohorts 1 and 3 and weak positive correlation in cohort 2. GPA was strongly correlated with the total score on the final MBBS examination.

Conclusion: Although the degree of correlation between the GPA and scores on the different components of the final MBBS examination varied, there was a strong correlation between GPA and total score on the final examination. Our findings suggest that further discussion of the purposes and design of course-based and final examinations is needed.

Keywords: GPA; academic performance; correlation; cross-sectional studies; educational measurement; final MBBS examination; medical students.

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr Md Anwarul Azim Majumder is the Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Medical Education and Practice. The other authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overall results from the final MBBS examination of the June 2019 at the UWI.
Figure 2
Figure 2
GPA distribution of 470 students taking the June 2019 final MBBS examination of the UWI.
Figure 3
Figure 3
GPA and the failure rates among the three cohorts of students sitting the final MBBS examinations of the UWI.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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