The authors used a videotape-based objective examination ingeneral
psychiatry to assess the clinical competence of medical students who had
completed their third-year clerkship. The test has been shown to be a
reliable, valid measure of clinical competence. Subjective faculty grading
related positively to test scores. Students on one ward had significantly
lower overall test scores, with particularly low scores on clinical
judgement questions. However, faculty grades for these students were not
significantly different. This suggests that the faculty was unable to
assess the relative efficacy of its own teaching. The test can provide
objective assessment of student clinical competence and is a means of
program evaluation.
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