About the MOR & MIRKAM Arrays

Background

Starting in 2004, most of the medical schools in Israel decided to base their admissions process on a combination of a cognitive element (the 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 decided to cooperate and use a common screening array for candidates. NITE, the National Institute for Testing and Evaluation, developed an efficient, unified and fair test array capable of predicting success in academic studies. This test array, centered around the Psychometric Test, is used by most institutions of higher education. Development and administration of the screening array for medical schools were also entrusted to NITE.

Goals of the Arrays

The MOR and MIRKAM arrays aim to assess personal variables not measured by the Bagrut and the Psychometric Test. The arrays test the following abilities:

• Level of inter-personal communication - conveying messages, people skills, honesty, attentiveness and sensitivity.
• 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 arrays permit applicants to six-year medical school programs to be graded according to a unified scoring scale. The scores allow medical schools to incorporate non-cognitive elements into the equation of the admissions process.

Development and Nature of the Arrays

In order to develop the MOR and MIRKAM assessment centers, doctors on the faculty of medical schools together with evaluation and assessment experts from NITE defined the characteristics of the role of doctors. Subsequently, they defined behavioral features for each relevant characteristic to enable them to be assessed reliably. They also defined assessment tools through which these features could be measured.

The MOR and MIRKAM arrays are based on three 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.
• SHAUL questionnaire (similar to questionnaires of this type in Israel and worldwide) - a computerized personality questionnaire for evaluating five aspects of personality: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and open-mindedness

The MOR and MIRKAM arrays are high-stakes tests, and accordingly are required to meet professional standards of reliability, validity and fairness. The scores in the arrays’ components - MOR and MIRKAM - are determined by expert assessors using standardized and structured assessment forms to analyze a large number of independent observations. This method improves the reliability and validity of the assessment and reduces bias in appraisal and evaluation.