About the MOR & MIRKAM Arrays
Background
Starting in 2004 most of the medical schools in Israel took the decision to base their admissions process on a combination of a cognitive element (high school matriculation (bagrut) scores and the Psychometric Test) and a non-cognitive element (behavioral and personality assessment).
In order to make the admissions process simpler for candidates, to reduce the number of tests they are required to take, and to limit the expenses involved, most of the medical schools in Israel took the decision to cooperate and use a common screening system for candidates. NITE, the National Institute for Testing and Evaluation, had developed an efficient, unified and fair test system capable of predicting success in academic studies. This test system, centered around the Psychometric Test, is used by most institutions of higher education. Development and administration of the screening system for medical schools were also entrusted to NITE.
Goals of the System
The MOR and MIRKAM systems were aimed at assessing personal variables not measured by bagrut and the Psychometric Test. The systems test the following abilities:
- Handling situations, handling problems.
- Maturity and sophistication, assessment and comprehension of a situation, awareness, self-criticism and recognition of complexity.
The candidates are assessed on the basis of their behavior and level of comprehension of every aspect of the situations in which they are tested. The scores in the MOR and MIRKAM systems permit applicants to six-year medical school programs to be graded according to a unified scoring scale. The score allows medical schools to incorporate a non-cognitive element into the equation of the admissions process.
Development and Nature of the System
In order to develop the MOR and MIRKAM assessment centers, doctors on the faculty of medical schools and evaluation and assessment experts from NITE defined the characteristics of the role of doctor. Subsequently they defined behavioral features for each relevant characteristic, to enable them to be assessed reliably, and assessment tools via which these features could be measured.
The MOR and MIRKAM systems are based on two principal evaluation tools:
Biographical questionnaire - a questionnaire in which candidates are asked about past events and experiences. The rationale for the questionnaire is that analysis of past events and experiences permits the prediction of future behavioral patterns and handling techniques.
Assessment center - a series of stations in which the candidate describes behavioral patterns, discusses ethical questions with the accessors and functions in simulations. The simulations allow a practical assessment of the examinee’s behavior without relying on self-reporting.
The MOR and MIRKAM systems are high-stakes tests, and accordingly are required to meet professional standards of reliability, validity and fairness. The score in the MOR and MIRKAM systems is determined by expert assessors using standardized and structured assessment forms to analyze a large number of independent observations, in order to enable systematic weighting of the observed data to create a comparable final score. This method improves the reliability and validity of the assessment and reduces bias in appraisal and evaluation.