The influence of working memory capacity on academic achievement of final year medical students

This is a cross sectional study conducted inJuly 2010 at the International Medical University,Seremban, Malaysia. The objective of this studywas to ascertain the relationship between workingmemory capacity of final MBBS medical studentsusing the digit span backward test and their academicachievement based on the total score at the modifiedessay questions (MEQ) which was the principalcomponent of the theory examination. Seventyeight final year medical students were recruited,41 (52.6%) were females and remaining 37 (47.4%)were males. Working memory capacity was measuredby digit span backward test (DSBT) which ranged from3 to 8 digits. The mean digit score was 6.6 ± 1.1 fallingunder the category of ‘above average’ score. There wasno significant difference between working memorycapacity and gender (p>0.05). There was no significantdifference in the MEQ mean score and the differentcategories of working memory capacity (p>0.05).The DBST shows uniformity in working memoryadequate to pass the modified essay questions. Medicalstudents appear to use encoding and retrieval processin problem solving based on functionality and patternrecognition in tackling the problems in the MEQ.