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Medical Student Performance Evaluation

The Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE) from Penn State College of Medicine is written by one of four senior faculty members within Educational Affairs. These performance evaluations follow a similar format guided by the recommendations made in the Association of American Medical College’s publication “A Guide to the Preparation of the Medical School Medical Student Performance Evaluation.”

The MSPE contains five sections.

1. Identifying Information

  • Student’s legal name and year in school.
  • Name and location of the medical school.

2. Noteworthy Characteristics

This section is limited to three bullet points highlighting significant accomplishments. Some samples include:

  • XX was involved in an internship with the American College of Physicians. In this role, she experienced the intersection of medicine and law. She gained insight for the role that physicians and lobbying groups play in impacting medical practice. This internship gave her the unique opportunity to glimpse at the sorts of legislative boundaries that she will have to face as a practicing physician.
  • For the past three years, XX has volunteered as a head coach and commissioner of the Boys’ 7/8th Grade League. This opportunity has allowed him to continue to develop leadership qualities both in dealing with his own players, as well as the teams and parents of the entire league. It has also provided XX the ability to serve as a mentor and friend to the boys on his team.
  • GoBabyGo is an organization that originated at the University of Delaware to provide mobility to children with disabilities. XX used her background in engineering to help build the first GoBabyGo car for the Penn State Health Rehab Hospital and is starting a local chapter. She modified a motorized toy car so children with disabilities could easily use the car to give them independent mobility at a low cost as well as enhance their physical therapy experience.
  • XX was actively involved in leading and volunteering in LionCare, a student-run free clinic that provides healthcare to an underserved area of Harrisburg, PA; this experience has helped her further understand the needs of at-risk populations and the critical role cultural competency plays when working with individuals of different backgrounds and belief systems. She served as a Neurology and Psychiatry Clinic Coordinator and volunteered in a variety of subspecialty clinics.

3. Academic History

This section provides dates for matriculation, graduation, dual degree programs, and any repeated courses/information related to adverse actions by the medical school.

4. Academic Progress

This section summarizes the student’s progress through Phases 1-4. There will be comments from the clerkships and histograms referencing the student’s grade as compared to the class.

5. Summary

This is a brief paragraph highlighting the student and is written by the MSPE writer.