Introduction: Training professional human resources that meet the health needs of society is the main purpose of medical universities. The national entrance examination has allocated quota system in order to observe educational justice. This study deals with the role of admission quotas on academic performance of quota and non-quota medical students.
Method: We extracted the students' diploma average, national rank and regional rank from the information at the time of their enrollment. We collected the information about the number of passed units, the number of rejected units, the average grade of the first to seventh semesters, the average grade of the basic sciences, physiopathology, and training and internship courses. Students were divided into quota and non-quota groups and the above variables were compared for them.
Results: A significant difference between national rank, regional rank, number of passed units, average grade of the second semester and average grade of students' training. This difference has been in favor of non-quota students. There was no significant difference between the other variables .
Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it seems that the difference between quota and non-quota students in academic performance is only related to entering new courses while studying, which requires the provision of necessary educational and welfare facilities before entering these courses.