Repeated Assessment of Medical Knowledge During the Two Years of Clerkships

Summary

To assess the clinical knowledge of medical students in Utrecht at the end of their study, including the two years of clerkships, a 100 item MC-test was introduced in 1990. The test contains questions about diagnosis and therapy in 10 medical specialties and is administered by a computer. The first results revealed that students obtained rather low scores on the test. It appeared that students did not spend much time studying theoretical subjects during their clerkships. To stimulate and direct the study of the students two paralleltests were introduced: one at the start of the clerkships and the second after three months. After the introduction of these preparing tests the scores on the final test one-and-a-half year later rose. In a crossover design the increase of knowledge during the clinical years was assessed.