ADVANCING TRAINING FOR GRIGORE T. POPA UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE AND PHARMACY IASI ENTRANCE EXAMINATION, BASED ON EDUCATIONAL, EMOTIONAL, AND SOCIAL DATA OF FUTURE CANDIDATES

Abstract

The aim of this article is to evaluate the perception of future candidates at the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi regarding the initiative of our institution to organize free preparatory courses in human anatomy and physiology for the admission exam. Secondary objectives included characterizing participants’ demographics, educational backgrounds, options for the entrance exam, learning effort and engagement patterns. Materials and methods:  The study included 119 voluntary participants over two consecutive academic years (60 in 2024, 59 in 2025) who provided explicit consent for anonymous data processing. In 2023-2024, preparatory courses were conducted in an intensive format (March-May 2024), while in 2024-2025, the program was extended to a more in-depth format (October 2024-May 2025). Both courses comprehensively covered all 23 chapters of Barron’s Human Anatomy and Physiology textbook. A Google Forms questionnaire assessed multiple domains:  demographics, geographical domicile, educational background, time allocation to study examination subjects, and perceived difficulty of specific anatomical topics (embryology, spatial relationships between structures). Participants rated course usefulness on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = "Not useful" to 5 = "Very useful"). Data analysis employed descriptive and comparative statistics. Complete anonymized raw data, statistical analyses with correlations, and supplementary materials (> 50 pages) are publicly available via Mendeley Data, a subsidiary of Elsevier (DOI:  10.17632/2y8nyy4yyy.1). Results:  Participants had a mean age of 18.96 years (median 18), with 91.6% selecting General Medicine as their first choice. The cohort comprised 54.6% current high school students and 14.3% university graduates seeking career transition. Over 60% of participants allocated 50-90% of their total study time to admission exam preparation. Geographic diversity was observed, with 26.1% of participants traveling from neighboring counties. Regarding course usefulness, a very high proportion of participants rated the courses as "Useful" or "Very useful," with a slight increase from 80.0% in 2024 to 83.1% in 2025. Notably, the proportion rating the courses as "Very useful" increased from 45.0% to 61.0% between years, reflecting the program’s ongoing refinement. Conclusions:  The highly positive feedback from participants validated the preparatory program’s effectiveness and triggered informed evidence-based expansion from an intensive to an adequately-paced format. Anonymous questionnaires proved effective for capturing multiple dimensions of participants’ perception regarding study effort and commitment. Our university pre-admission training initiative demonstrates institutional responsiveness to learner needs and provides a replicable model for other medical universities.