Why is the MSPE important? 

The Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE) is a comprehensive assessment of your performance in achieving the educational objectives of our medical school curriculum. It is neither a letter of recommendation nor the College of Medicine's prediction of your future performance in a residency program. The MSPE does describe your performance through three full years of medical school and part of your fourth year. It is then transmitted to the residency programs to which you apply during your senior year.

Note: The MSPE is not just used for residency applications. It is also used if a student applies for a second residency or a postresidency fellowship. At that time, the college must account for a student’s entire course of study. That is done by creating an addendum to the MSPE in which all Med 4 clerkship grades are documented. Narrative comments are not included unless a student receives an Unsatisfactory or has been referred to the Honor and Professionalism Council.

View a sample MSPE

MSPE Sections

• Identifying Information: Your legal name and year of study at the College of Medicine
• Unique Characteristics: Your responses to one of three prompts and to which research, extracurricular, and volunteer experiences were most meaningful to you.
• Academic History: Your matriculation and expected graduation dates; explanation of any leaves of absence, extensions, or other gaps or breaks while a medical student; and statement of combined degree programs, if applicable.
• Academic Progress: Your overall academic performance in your preclinical pathway and a chronological listing of all core clinical clerkships and elective rotations, including the grade and evaluation, from July of your third year through August of your fourth year.
• Summary Statement: Although the College of Medicine is a nonranking institution, students are clustered based on percentages assigned to their preclinical end-of-year and core clinical clerkship grades. The categories are: outstanding, excellent, very good, good and capable. Only Med 1-3 grades are included in the MSPE cluster statement. We do not feel it is fair to include July and August grades in Med 4 because of differences in student schedules and the relative weights of the clerkships.
• Appendices: These include graphic representations on “Preclinical Comparative Performance,” “Clinical Comparative Performance,” "Professionalism Comparative Performance," “Compartive Performance in Medical School” and an information page on the College of Medicine.

One of the first steps toward completion of your MSPE is to fill out the MSPE Questionnaire (submitted via Vitals). The information you provide on this form is used to write the Unique Characteristics section of the MSPE.

For additional information, contact:

Stacy Drake Medical Student Communications/Special Projects
B043 Graves Hall
Office Hours: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
614-292-6450
stacy.drake@osumc.edu

For graduate MSPEs related to a fellowship application, please contact the Records Office at medregistar@osumc.edu or 614-685-5054.