Undergraduate performance assessment

Introduction: Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is considered a useful method of assessing clinical skills besides Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and clinical evaluations. Aim: To explore the acceptance of medical students to this assessment tool in medical education and to determine whether the assessment results of MCQs and faculty clinical evaluations agree with the respective OSCE scores of 4th year medical students (Med IV). Methods: performance of a total of 223 Med IV students distributed on academic years 2006-2007, 2007-2008, and 2008-2009 in OSCE, MCQs and faculty evaluations were compared. Out of the total 93 students were asked randomly to fill a questionnaire about their attitudes and acceptance of this tool. The OSCE was conducted every two months for two different groups of medical students who had completed their family medicine rotation, while faculty evaluation based on observation by assessors was submitted on a monthly basis upon the completion of the rotation. The final exam for the family medicine clerkship was performed at the end of the 4thacademic year, and it consisted of MCQsResults: Students highly commended the OSCE as a tool of evaluation by faculty members as it provides a true measure of required clinical skills and communication skills compared to MCQs and faculty evaluation. The study showed a significant positive correlation between the OSCE scores and the clinical evaluation scores while there was no association between the OSCE score and the final exam scores.Conclusion: Student showed high appreciation and acceptance of this type of clinical skills testing. Despite the fact that OSCEs make them more stressed than other modalities of assessment, it remained the preferred one.

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Structured Long Interview and Clinical Examination (SLICE) as Formative Assessment Tool in Clinical Clerkship: Medical Students Perspective

Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association ◽

10.47391/jpma.583 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-16

Author(s):

Wajiha Shadab ◽

Amna Ahmed Noor ◽

Saira Waqqar ◽

Gul Muhammad Shaikh

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Formative Assessment ◽

Thematic Analysis ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Clinical Skills ◽

General Medicine ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Clinical Clerkship ◽

Primary Investigator ◽

Skills Learning

Abstract Objective: This study aimed to assess the medical students’ opinions and views on undertaking SLICE as a formative assessment. Methods: This was a qualitative, exploratory study. Purposive sampling technique was used to select final year medical students who have undertaken a formative assessment through SLICE in their clerkship rotation. Total 32 students participated in this study .Four sets of focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted from medical students who had recently gone through their clinical clerkship modules for Pediatrics, General Medicine, General Surgery and Gynecology& Obstetrics. Each recorded FGD was transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was conducted manually. Themes were identified from the transcribed data, coded and analyzed. In order to achieve adequate coding and researcher reliability, investigator triangulation was performed. The initial thematic analysis was performed by the primary investigator. Thereafter, two more investigators independently analyzed the data. Before the data was finalized, all the three investigators reached a final consensus upon the themes that had emerged, ensuring triangulation of the analyzed data. Results: A four staged thematic analysis was conducted, in which five major themes and five sub-themes emerged. The main themes being: Purpose, Learning, Timing, Relevancy and Fairness of SLICE. Conclusion: The students generally thought that SLICE was effective in enhancing their clinical skills learning and should be conducted more frequently with minor adjustments. Continuous...

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OSCE: An Effective Tool of Assessment for Medical Students

10.53350/pjmhs211582235 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (8) ◽

pp. 2235-2239

Author(s):

Farrukh Sarfraz ◽

Fahad Sarfraz ◽

Imran Jawad ◽

Mohammad Zia-Ul-Miraj ◽

Rizwan Zafar Ahmad ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Time Allocation ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Clinical Skills ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Clinical Competencies ◽

Medical College ◽

Data Collection Procedure

Background: To assess the competency of a student different tools are used. Since its introduction in 1975 by Dr. Harden and his team, OSCE has gained tremendous strides to assess the clinical competencies. Since 1975 onward OSCE has been very successfully used to assess the clinical competencies of medical student globally. OSCE is an assessment tool in which student is observed for performance of different tasks at specified stations. In the current study perception of medical students about OSCE examination was done which shall give room for positive criticism and further improvement of the system where ever required. Objective: To expedite view of final year MBBS students of Azra Naheed College about OSCE Material and Method Study design: Quantitative, cross sectional study. Settings: Azra Naheed College, Lahore. Duration: Six months i.e. 1st July2020 to 31st December 2020 Data Collection procedure: After an informed consent and appropriate briefing, the questionnaire was distributed among the final year medical students of Azra Naheed Medical College. Questionnaire developed by Russell et al was used. Results: Out of 148 students who participated in the study, 66(45%) students were females and 82(55%) were male. Majority of the students were satisfied with the quality of the exam. Consensus about the quality of exam was that, 29.7% were aware about the nature of the exam, 52.7% were satisfied that the syllabus taught was asked in the exam, 58.1% were satisfied about the time allocation for each station. Majority i.e. 60% considered OSCE an exam of practical nature which is not biased by gender or ethnicity. More than 50% of the students were satisfied with the standard of the exam. At the same time more than 50% students considered essay exam the easiest format of assessment. However, OSCE was considered to be fairest form of assessment 73%. 68.9% perceived that learning is enhanced by MCQs rather than other formats of assessment. Conclusion: To conclude this study, it is very much clear that the perception of students about OSCE as an assessment tool was very encouraging, as it not only provided them the opportunity to highlight their weaknesses but also helped them to perform well in the exam, manage time during exam and to overcome them stress which influenced their results. Key words: OSCE, Objective, Examinations, Clinical skills, qualitative analysis

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Primary Care Tracks in Medical Schools

PRiMER ◽

10.22454/primer.2019.799272 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Author(s):

Maribeth P. Williams ◽

Denny Fe Agana ◽

Benjamin J. Rooks ◽

Grant Harrell ◽

Rosemary A. Klassen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Medical Students ◽

Family Medicine ◽

Primary Care Physicians ◽

Response Rate ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Medical Schools ◽

Clerkship Director ◽

Medicine Clerkship ◽

Faculty Mentorship

Introduction: With the estimated future shortage of primary care physicians there is a need to recruit more medical students into family medicine. Longitudinal programs or primary care tracks in medical schools have been shown to successfully recruit students into primary care. The aim of this study was to examine the characteristics of primary care tracks in departments of family medicine. Methods: Data were collected as part of the 2016 CERA Family Medicine Clerkship Director Survey. The survey included questions regarding the presence and description of available primary care tracks as well as the clerkship director’s perception of impact. The survey was distributed via email to 125 US and 16 Canadian family medicine clerkship directors. Results: The response rate was 86%. Thirty-five respondents (29%) reported offering a longitudinal primary care track. The majority of tracks select students on a competitive basis, are directed by family medicine educators, and include a wide variety of activities. Longitudinal experience in primary care ambulatory settings and primary care faculty mentorship were the most common activities. Almost 70% of clerkship directors believe there is a positive impact on students entering primary care. Conclusions: The current tracks are diverse in what they offer and could be tailored to the missions of individual medical schools. The majority of clerkship directors reported that they do have a positive impact on students entering primary care.

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MSK30: a validated tool to assess clinical musculoskeletal knowledge

BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine ◽

10.1136/bmjsem-2018-000495 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. e000495

Author(s):

Danielle L Cummings ◽

Matthew Smith ◽

Brian Merrigan ◽

Jeffrey Leggit

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Large Scale ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Multiple Choice ◽

School Curriculum ◽

Average Score ◽

Multiple Choice Questions ◽

Modified Delphi ◽

Multiple Choice Exam ◽

Individual Education

BackgroundMusculoskeletal (MSK) complaints comprise a large proportion of outpatient visits. However, multiple studies show that medical school curriculum often fails to adequately prepare graduates to diagnose and manage common MSK problems. Current standardised exams inadequately assess trainees’ MSK knowledge and other MSK-specific exams such as Freedman and Bernstein’s (1998) exam have limitations in implementation. We propose a new 30-question multiple choice exam for graduating medical students and primary care residents. Results highlight individual deficiencies and identify areas for curriculum improvement.Methods/ResultsWe developed a bank of multiple choice questions based on 10 critical topics in MSK medicine. The questions were validated with subject-matter experts (SMEs) using a modified Delphi method to obtain consensus on the importance of each question. Based on the SME input, we compiled 30 questions in the assessment. Results of the large-scale pilot test (167 post-clerkship medical students) were an average score of 74 % (range 53% – 90 %, SD 7.8%). In addition, the tool contains detailed explanations and references were created for each question to allow an individual or group to review and enhance learning.SummaryThe proposed MSK30 exam evaluates clinically important topics and offers an assessment tool for clinical MSK knowledge of medical students and residents. It fills a gap in current curriculum and improves on previous MSK-specific assessments through better clinical relevance and consistent grading. Educators can use the results of the exam to guide curriculum development and individual education.

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Medical students’ vs. family physicians’ assessment of practical and logical values of pathophysiology multiple-choice questions

AJP Advances in Physiology Education ◽

10.1152/advan.00145.2015 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 (1) ◽

pp. 62-68 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Damir Secic ◽

Dzenana Husremovic ◽

Eldan Kapur ◽

Zaim Jatic ◽

Nina Hadziahmetovic ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Family Medicine ◽

Family Physicians ◽

Qualitative Assessment ◽

Multiple Choice Questions ◽

Logic Of Questions ◽

Testing Strategies ◽

Cardiac Pathophysiology ◽

Negative Effect ◽

The Difference

Testing strategies can either have a very positive or negative effect on the learning process. The aim of this study was to examine the degree of consistency in evaluating the practicality and logic of questions from a medical school pathophysiology test, between students and family medicine doctors. The study engaged 77 family medicine doctors and 51 students. Ten questions were taken from cardiac pathophysiology and 10 questions from pulmonary pathophysiology, and each question was assessed on the criteria of practicality and logic. A nonparametric Mann-Whitney test was used to test the difference between evaluators. On the criteria of logic, only four out of 20 items were evaluated differently by students in comparison to doctors, two items each from the fields of cardiology and pulmonology. On the criteria of practicality, for six of the 20 items there were statistically significant differences between the students and doctors, with three items each from cardiology and pulmonology. Based on these indicative results, students should be involved in the qualitative assessment of exam questions, which should be performed regularly under a strictly regulated process.

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Perception of OSCE as An Assessment Tool in Undergraduate Students of Private Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan

10.53350/pjmhs211582370 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (8) ◽

pp. 2370-2374

Author(s):

Saba Pario ◽

Shaista Bashir Anwar ◽

Zafar Haleem Baloch ◽

Saira Ghafoor ◽

Shazia Aftab ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Clinical Skills ◽

Tool Material ◽

P Value ◽

Practical Skills ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Significant Difference

OBJECTIVE: To explore the perception of undergraduate students of United Medical and dental college towards objective structured clinical examination as an assessment tool. MATERIAL & METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study included undergraduate medical students, RESULTS: 153 students who completely filled the proforma were included in study among them 31% were male and 69% were females. Mostly agreed that stations in OSCE were simple and easily interpretable and assessed practical skills thoroughly. Majority of students accepted that skills inquired were taught in clinics, stations were according to course and stations were appropriately timed. 66 % confirmed that adequate instructions were provided before exam. 84.31% believed that OSCE is preferable to viva. 57.51% of candidates stated that examiners during OSCE were attentive and gracious but 20.91 % objected it , while 21.57% remained neutral. Almost half of examinees labelled it as comprehensive clinical assessment .Overall, 67.97 % perceived OSCE as demanding and tough assessment. Finally views of students for statement that OSCE is unbiased, reliable and valid were positive in 50.32%.There was a significant difference in the opinion of male and female( p-value is less than 0.05) in statement that OSCE thoroughly assessed practical skills, stations were according to course of instruction, Adequate instructions were provided before exam, superior and preferable to viva, assists in improvement of clinical skills, demanding and tough and finally OSCE was unbiased, reliable and valid CONCLUSION: OSCE was perceived as fair, comprehensive, un-biased format of examination but believed it was more stressful than traditional examination methods . KEY WORDS: Assessment, Attitude, OSCE, Perception, Undergraduate Medical students.

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Building a Successful, Socially-Distanced Family Medicine Clerkship in the COVID Crisis

PRiMER ◽

10.22454/primer.2020.755864 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

Author(s):

John R. Hayes ◽

Bryan Johnston ◽

Rebecca Lundh

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Medical Students ◽

Family Medicine ◽

The United States ◽

Learning Objectives ◽

Direct Patient Care ◽

Clinical Environment ◽

Clinical Instruction ◽

Medicine Clerkship ◽

Illness Script

Introduction: In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many family medicine clerkships across the United States are scrambling to provide meaningful medical education in a new clinical environment. Most medical schools have paused or severely limited the direct patient care that has been the core educational requirement of the clinical clerkships. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a curricular model that meets the family medicine clerkship learning objectives via telemedicine clinical instruction. Methods: We created a clerkship where all clinical encounters took place by phone or video visits. Students were required to have telemedicine encounters with at least 20 patients over a 4-week clerkship. We also created a telemedicine illness script-writing assignment to prepare students and faculty for these encounters. We evaluated our curriculum by surveying participating students and faculty members. Results: Student surveys revealed that all learning objectives were met during the telemedicine clerkship experience. Students felt they made a difference during the COVID-19 pandemic. Faculty felt that the medical students were helpful and that they were able to provide meaningful clinical instruction. Conclusion: Our study reveals that a family medicine clerkship can be successfully delivered using telemedicine and remote learning techniques. Senior medical students are a valuable resource and can have a meaningful clinical impact while learning more about family medicine. If social distancing precautions continue, this model can be used by other clerkships to continue medical education and provide medical care.

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