The Association for American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is dedicated to supporting medical schools across the United States with assessment tools and approaches to facilitate holistic review of applicants. One of these efforts led to the development and administration of a high-stakes situational judgment test (SJT), the AAMC PREview® Professional Readiness Exam, designed to assess professional readiness and the skills critical for success in medical school and beyond.


Unlike traditional metrics like GPA and MCAT scores, PREview evaluates how applicants respond to realistic scenarios reflecting challenges faced in medical education. Examinees rate the effectiveness of various behavioral responses, offering insight into their judgment in key areas, including personal accountability and relational skills. By measuring these skill areas, PREview empowers medical schools to identify candidates who not only excel academically but who also demonstrate the professional behaviors needed to be successful on day one of training. Schools use PREview scores in multiple ways: early screening, adding depth to applicant profiles, distinguishing between similarly qualified candidates, and contextualizing other information in the application.


Development of this standardized and evidence-based exam has not only required integration of evidence-based approaches from industrial and organizational psychology, but it has also necessitated substantial buy-in and involvement from the community to ensure relevance, fairness, and widespread adoption. This talk will describe the journey to developing this important new assessment in consideration of key medical school needs, such as relevance to healthcare training, reliability and validity, coachability, equity and fairness for examinees.