The mean of all 12 competencies scores for all students was 27 and, for a basis for comparison of the competencies, we used that mean as the study total mean. As Table III shows, the mean of scores obtained by second-semester students for all core competencies was lower than the total mean (i.e. 27). The highest mean (37.86) was on “critical thinking” and was obtained by eighth-semester students, while the lowest corresponded to “research skills” and was obtained by second semester students.