A Test of Clinical Learning by Medical Students
ROBERT J. THURNBLAD M.D.1,
HYMAN MUSLIN M.D.2, , and
JOHN LOESCH M.D.3
1 Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Abraham Lincoln School of Medicine, University of Illinois, 912 S. Wood St., P.O. Box 6998, Chicago, Ill. 60680
2 Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Abraham Lincoln School of Medicine, University of Illinois, 912 S. Wood St., P.O. Box 6998, Chicago, Ill. 60680
3 Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Abraham Lincoln School of Medicine, University of Illinois, 912 S. Wood St., P.O. Box 6998, Chicago, Ill. 60680
The authors compared the performance of different classes of medical students on an examination using videotaped clinical material. Although the examination was designed to test some aspects of clinical learning, the principal finding was that students achieved high scores at the end of two years of preclinical work; after that no further increment was found. This points up the need to evaluate test instruments carefully and especially to continue direct assessment of students doing clinical work.
