NPCA EDUCATION COMMITTEE

The major thrust of the Education Committee results from the rather urgent need to implement interesting programs in which supervisors may train for examination and certification under the qualifications of the pesticide act. While it is not easy at this time to determine what certification is going to be, what supervisors are going to be involved, what kind of examination they are going to have to take, and how the state is going to interpret all of this, we therefore cannot be specific. The wheels are grinding away, and as you know, the timetable is winding down; and we may be faced with a rather short period of time to get these people qualified. Our industry hopes that we will have the training to offer and that all supervisors from around the country have the opportunity to prepare, take the examination, and be certified.

Medical Students' Attitudes Toward The Medical College Admission Test

The following study analyzed the attitudes held by pre-clinical medical students about the Medical College Admission Test or MCAT. One hundred and eighty first-year and second-year medical students at a public Midwestern medical university participated in this study. Participants completed the “Medical Students Attitudes toward the Medical College Admission Test” survey during their morning lectures near the end of their spring semester. A composite scale score of the Likert items of the survey was computed and the proportion of students with attitudes ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree was calculated. For six of the twelve Likert items the largest proportion of participants disagreed with the statements about the MCAT and its use in the admission process and its applicability to their current medical education. Other questions included how participants prepared for the MCAT and if they completed each of the subsections were addressed as well. Future research could determine if attitudes between students accepted into medical school and those not accepted are drastically different. Advisor: Kurt F. Geisinger