MCAT Responds to Changes in Medical Education and Physician Practice

THE EXECUTIVE Council of the Association of American Medical Colleges has approved substantial revisions to the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). Approximately every 10 years, the Association of American Medical Colleges undertakes a rigorous review of test format and content to ensure the MCAT's continuing timeliness, relevance, and fair and objective assessment. The current revisions are predicated on changes in medical education and medical practice to which the test must respond, rather than on any deficiencies in the current test. The knowledge base and technologies of medicine are changing and expanding at breathtaking speed. If tomorrow's physicians are to keep pace with the requirements of their profession, they will need the ability to gather and rigorously assess data, to apply the basic concepts and principles of medicine to the solution of scientific and clinical problems, to continually update their knowledge and skills, and to communicate what they have learned to