Abstract Background There has been a growing interest on the assessment of personality when selecting medical students. However, how faking may affect its usefulness has been poorly addressed. Therefore, we aimed to assess the faking effect on self-report personality tests in the selection process of graduates to a medical school. Methods Sixty-seven graduates admitted as medical students completed the 60-item NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability short-form scale at the stage of applying (baseline assessment) and after they had already been admitted (follow-up assessment). Reliability was assessed by the intra-class correlation coefficient and means of the personality traits compared by two paired sample t tests. Results At baseline assessment, the participants showed higher scores on the conscientiousness and lower scores on the neuroticism traits, respectively, 40.3 vs. 38.5 (p= 0.026) and 17.0 vs. 18.5 (p= 0.089). Also, at the follow-up assessment, the participants with low social desirability scored higher on the traits of openness to experience (−1.63 vs. 1.12, p= 0.036), conscientiousness (−3.09 vs. 0.03, p= 0.022), and neuroticism (3.88 vs. −0.69, p= 0.012). Conclusions Our study does not suggest the use of self-report personality assessment in medical student’s selection as it can be faked particularly among applicants with low social desirability. Research is required to evaluate the faking effect on indirect personality assessment, namely through the tools that aim to select non-academic characteristics.

A transição do ensino secundário para o ensino superior é reconhecida como uma importante fase do ciclo académico, revestindo assim de maior importância o acto de tomada de decisão vocacional. A maioria dos alunos refere que gostaria de receber ajuda para explorar o mundo profissional. Neste sentido, é da responsabilidade das Instituições do Ensino Superior assumir um papel mais activo neste processo. Este trabalho tem, como principal objectivo, apresentar os resultados decorrentes da análise dos questionários de avaliação dos Dias Abertos da FMUP realizados em 2005, 2006 e 2007. Métodos: O Centro de Educação Médica da FMUP através do Gabinete de Apoio ao Estudante, desenvolveu um conjunto de procedimentos conducentes à divulgação do Dia Aberto, acompanhado de um programa estruturado, assegurando o envolvimento efectivo da FMUP, financiamento e avaliação do evento. Resultados: Dos 688 participantes das 29 Instituições do Ensino Secundário que estiveram presentes nos três Dias Abertos da FMUP, foram recebidos 516 questionários (75% de respostas). Conclusões: A análise qualitativa e quantitativa dos resultados obtidos permite concluir que o Dia Aberto constitui uma experiência construtiva e útil no processo de tomada de decisão vocacional, pelo que se deve continuar a realizar este tipo de iniciativa.

The transition from high school to university is recognized as an important phase of the academic cycle, being of greater importance the process of taking a vocational decision. The majority of students refer that they would like to receive support in exploring the professional world. Therefore, the university institutions should assume a more active role during this process. The aim of this work is to present of the results obtained from the analysis of the questionnaires which evaluated the Open Days (2005 - 2007). Methods: The Centre of Medical Education of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP) by means of its Student Support Office, developed a set of procedures in order to publicize the Open Day, along with a structured program, assuring the effective involvement of FMUP, financial support and evaluation of the event. Results: Of the 688 participants of 29 high school institutions, 516 questionnaires were obtained (75% response rate). Conclusions: The quantitative and qualitative analysis of the results lead us to conclude that the Open Day constitutes a constructive and useful experience during the process of taking a vocational decision, implying that this type of initiative should continue to be carried through.