Position paper on the existing selection procedure in Germany for the degree program human medicine – interim evaluation after four years. Position paper of the student selection (ASA) in the DACH Association for Medical Education (GMA)

Four years after the entry into force of the new allocation rules, this position paper by the Committee on Student Selection of the GMA presents an initial interim assessment of the intended aspects of aptitude, public welfare considerations, and the social state principle, while also addressing equality-based admission. Academic achievement continues to be used as the primary selection criterion, even though it only moderately predicts success in the first phase of study and tends to favor both socioeconomically advantaged applicants and female high school graduates. HamNat and TMS results increase the predictive validity of the school-leaving grade and, in particular, improve the chance of admission for male applicants. Consideration of public welfare aspects is only partially achieved in view of the preferential allocation of study places to federal states with good medical care. Immediate measures in response to already apparent consequences should include: 1) a revision of the state treaty in order to i) reconcile individual fairness with a needs-based distribution of study places to state residents in the algorithm for the federal list based on school-leaving grades, and ii) enable the tracking of individual study trajectories to evaluate the effects of selection criteria and, if necessary, make adjustments; 2) examining whether a combination of HamNat and TMS further improves the predictive validity for study success compared to using only one of them; 3) giving the school-leaving grade less weight in the allocation of study places in favor of HamNat and/or TMS, to increase gender equality and favor socioeconomically disadvantaged applicants, thereby enhancing diversity within the student body; 4) ensuring that the criterion of fairness is examined and weighed in all test procedures considered in student selection. This could promote diversity in medical education and lead to a future medical profession that continues to adequately represent and serve the entire population.