Passing mark in medical colleges: Practical insights from resource-limited nations

Abstract

Medical colleges must establish feasible, consistent, and justifiable passing requirements to ensure the competency and safe practice of medical graduates. However, the passing mark in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains a subject of debate. The traditional 50% fixed passing mark no longer aligns with the requirements of modern medical education, and the application of the recommended standard-setting methods, which are equitable, defensible, and credible, is not feasible in countries with limited resources. Therefore, this paper analyses the shortcomings of a fixed 50% passing mark and the challenges associated with implementing standard setting in resource-constrained countries, and we argue that adopting a 60% threshold results in more competent medical graduates and proves to be more practical than standard setting in such contexts.

Keywords: Passing mark, Standard setting, Medical graduates, Competency, Resource-limited nations