In a clinical ethics course for junior medical students, simulated clinical-ethical cases were used to evaluate student achievement. The questions, methods of scoring, and findings of the program are examined. It is found that this can be an objective evaluation method and that the course results in increased student reflectiveness. (MSE)

Baylor College of Medicine's system for evaluating the clinical progress of anesthesiology residents, developed in response to problems of standards, staff cooperation, and student dissatisfaction with evaluation, assesses resident progress in terms of performance levels based on case complexity and degree of staff intervention. (Author/MSE)

This paper describes the development of a new technique to assess clinical problem solving skills in medical students. The procedure enables each step in the solution of clinical problems to be evaluated independently by providing feedback to students at each decision point. (Editor)

A comparison of traditional objective measures of student clerkship performance (final examination grade and National Board of Medical Examiners Part II test) and subjective evaluations by attending physicians found that the two methods measure different aspects of performance and had relatively low correlations. (MSE)

A study assessed (1) the validity of the Bowman Gray School of Medicine evaluation instrument regarding the occurrence of halo effects and (2) possible relationships between the faculty's evaluations of the residents and the residents' cognitive knowledge and productivity. (MLW)

Presents a 3-dimensional conceptual framework for measuring clinical competence: problem-solving process, clinical discipline, and context of care. The intersection of the dimensions defines the clinical practice domain to be measured. For each domain specific problems can be identified and clinicians asked to demonstrate competence in resolving…

Proposes a plan by which medical students could take a final examination 80 percent of the way through a course, allowing students to learn in their own way with more efficient use of teacher time and less stress of terminal exams because all students would have two chances without penalty. (JT)

Two methods of assessing medical students' problem-solving skills were compared in actual use: a modified essay question and a structured oral examination based on it. The reliability and validity of each were found to be similar. (MSE)

The evaluation processes of 75 internal medicine residencies visited by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) in 1978-82 are reviewed. The methods of evaluation used by the residencies are described and compared with the findings from an earlier cycle of visits in 1972-75. (Author/MLW)

The University of Michigan Medical School has developed an evaluation system to provide specific information to students regarding their clinical performance in a wide range of clerkships. The focus of the system is the Clinical Evaluation Form that utilizes behavioral descriptions to define four levels of behavior. (JMD)

The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine served as one of the cooperating pilot schools in the Association of American Medical Colleges Clinical Evaluation Program. The completion of self-study materials helped the faculty to provide descriptions of the structure of the clerkships and of the evaluation system. (MLW)

A computer program developed at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine presents simulated patient cases and then scores participants' clinical problem-solving in the cases by comparing their performances with those of faculty members. The validity and reliability of this evaluation system was investigated. (Author/MLW)

Orders written by medical residents to be carried out on newly-hospitalized patients were reviewed to determine the frequency of vital signs orders. Subsequent clinical events requiring nurses to contact house officers were determined. Data suggest that physicians should request nurses to use more efficient methods of clinical observation.…

The Association of American Medical Colleges' (AAMC) Clinical Evaluation Program, initiated in 1979, is described. Efforts toward improvement of evaluation focused on three tasks: definition of educational objectives, specification of criteria for determining when those objectives are met, and development of methods for assessing individual…