Table 3 UMAT and Oral assessment preparatory activities which resulted in the offer of an interview or a place in the medical school

UMAT (n = 1097)

Completed example questions

912 (83.1)

1.15 (0.81-1.61)

0.435

1

Familiarised myself with the process

734 (66.9)

1.52 (1.15-2.00)

0.003

0.021*

Spoke with people who had completed it before

621 (56.6)

1.16 (0.90-1.50)

0.254

1

Utilised online services of private organisation

524 (47.8)

1.58 (1.23-2.04)

<0.001

<0.001*

Attended training course offered by private organisation

395 (36.0)

1.75 (1.35-2.27)

<0.001

<0.001*

Other (eg books, seminars)

45 (4.1)

1.14 (0.61–2.13)

0.680

1

Nothing

37 (3.4)

0.75 (0.36-1.58)

0.454

1

Activity

Frequency of responses (%)

Odds ratio of being offered an interview or place given they did activity (95% CIs)

Uncorrected P value

Corrected P value

Oral assessment (n = 37)

Learnt about the course structure

233 (64.9)

2.05 (1.29-3.26)

0.002

0.022**

Discussed the oral assessment with previous applicants

211 (58.8)

1.72 (1.09-2.71)

0.019

0.209

Prepared and learnt answers to possible questions

184 (51.3)

1.60 (1.02-2.52)

0.042

0.462

Practiced interviews with family and friends

175 (48.8)

1.31 (0.83-2.06)

0.238

1

Used the online services of a private company

86 (24.0)

2.06 (1.15-3.71)

0.014

0.154

Attended a training course offered by a private company

60 (16.7)

1.24 (0.67-2.31)

0.493

1

Refined and learnt a personal resume

57 (15.9)

9.73 (2.97-31.88)

<0.001

<0.001**

School organised practice interviews

39 (10.9)

1.52 (0.69-3.31)

0.294

1

Old scholars who studied/study medicine came to my school to talk

37 (10.3)

3.99 (1.38-11.56)

0.006

0.066

Other (eg career advisor, self-reflection)

5858 (16.2)

1.17 (0.63-2.19)

0.617

1

Nothing

27 (7.5)

1.04 (0.44-2.45)

0.920

1