Academic Achievement of Talented Students at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences

Abstract. Background. The necessity of identifying talented students to develop appropriate programs to educate them is well recognized. Special programs for talented students were started in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in year 2000. This study analyses academic achievement of talented students before attending these programs, and compares them to those who are not considered as talented . Methods. Through a retrospective cohort study students admitted in the university in either 1997 or 1998 were categorized as”talented” and "non-talented" based on the criteria employed by National Organization for Educational Measurement. The two groups were matched according to their courses of study, number of passed units, and the semesters passing the corresponding units. From each student’s file, the total average, average of each semester, and the courses of study were extracted. Results. There were 73 talented (36 female and 37 male) and 401 non-talented students. Of talented students, 50 were studying medicine and 23 were studying dentistry. With increment of passed semesters, term averages were decreased. The slope of average decrements among talented students were not significantly different from that of "non-talented" ones. Conclusion. Although term average is not the only criterion for assessment of academic achievement, it seems that current University programs were not effective to improve academic achievement of talented students ,or at least , maintain their status.