Assessing Multiple-Mini Interview Performance Across Pharmacy Admissions Pathways

Objective: To assess whether students who are admitted to a Doctor of Pharmacy program through different admissions pathways (early assurance vs other pathways) have significantly different affective domain competencies, as measured by multiple-mini interview (MMI) evaluations.Methods: A secondary analysis of existing data was conducted at a single pharmacy school in the upper Midwestern U.S. over 3 admissions cycles. The program offers a 6-year, early assurance admission pathway as well as more traditional admissions pathways which can be completed in 7-8 years. Differences in MMI scores, overall and by individual question, were assessed using the Kruskal-Wallis test.Results: No differences in total MMI scores exist between individuals applying through the program's early assurance pathway and those applying through other pathways. In the first admissions cycle, early assurance applicants performed significantly lower on the responsibility MMI item (mean = 7.01 vs 8.50) and significantly higher on the cross-cutting MMI item (mean = 6.95 vs 5.45). In the second admissions cycle, early assurance applicants scored significantly higher on the self-awareness MMI item than other applicants (mean = 8.22 vs 7.14). No statistically significant differences were found between early assurance and non-early assurance applicants during the final admissions cycle.Conclusion: Individuals applying through an early assurance pathway produce MMI scores that are similar to individuals applying through other admissions pathways.