OU is gearing up its students for coming changes to the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) that may affect current students.
The recently approved changes are scheduled to take effect in spring 2015, meaning current freshmen are on track to graduate in four years will be the last applicant pool to take the old test.
That hasn’t stopped the university from adapting early.
AT A GLANCE
Old MCAT
• Physical Sciences — 52 questions, 70 min
• Verbal Reasoning — 40 questions, 60 min
• Writing Sample — 2 essays, 60 minutes
• Biological Sciences — 52 questions, 70 min
Total Time: 5 hours
New MCAT
• Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems — 65 questions, 95 min
• Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems — 65 questions, 95 min
• Psychological, Social, and Biological Functions of Behavior — 65 questions, 95 min
• Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills — 60 questions, 90 min
Total time: 7 hours
OU already is adjusting its curriculum to prepare students for the changes, curriculum adviser Nancy Blass said.
Major MCAT changes are in store, Kaplan test preparation director Jeff Koetje said.
The current test’s biological and physical sciences sections have been revised and renamed “biological and biochemical foundations of living systems” and “chemical and physical foundations of biological systems,” Koetje said.
Both sections will continue to test applicants on the core sciences but with a greater focus on higher-level biological sciences and how they relate to the practice of medicine, Koetje said.
The revised verbal reasoning section, now “critical analysis and reasoning skills,” will test applicants’ ability to read and comprehend passages while emphasizing the humanities and social sciences in a medical context.
The most dramatic change is the introduction of a new “psychological, social, and biological functions of behavior” section, which will test concepts from psychology and sociology, Koetje said.
Beginning in 2013, there no longer will be a writing portion; instead, the test will offer an optional, unscored section featuring questions from the newer version in 2013 and 2014.
The core requirements of OU’s program — the sixth-largest producer of medical students in the country — haven’t changed, but students are now being advised to take introductory courses in psychology and sociology, Blass said.
Upper-level electives that combine high-level social sciences with quantitative reasoning skills, such as Psychological Statistics, also are being recommended, Blass said.
Since the changes to the MCAT were first proposed, biomedical ethics professor Piers Hale has seen his course’s enrollment double, he said.
Hale began teaching the course in 2005, and he said he believes it is important not just for the new exam but for all students pursuing a course in medicine.
“Students (should) consider what makes the basis of a good patient-doctor relationship ... as well as the principles upon which they are based, such as patient autonomy and beneficence,” Hale said. “The students I teach care deeply about these issues, and that bodes well for the future of health care in this country.”
History junior Michael Michalopulos currently is preparing to take the MCAT before the changes are implemented, but he believes that in time, the changes will benefit both doctors and patients, he said.
“It is very important for a doctor to understand the mental and emotional aspects of their patients in addition to the physical ones,” Michalopulos said. “A better understanding of psychology and human behavior will only strengthen the doctor-patient relationship. I am all for the changes and like the idea.”