Employing oral examinations (viva voce) in assessing dental students' clinical reasoning skills

The development and evaluation of a comprehensive oral examination system are described. These examinations are designed to measure, in an authentic manner, graduating students' understanding and use of the clinical reasoning and professional communications skills employed in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of realistic clinical situations. The examination cases were developed from actual clinic cases, enhanced to fit the requirements of the examination. Faculty members were provided with training sessions designed to promote consistency of administration and scoring. A mock oral examination was held to acquaint students with the process and to help reduce their anxiety. The results suggest that the oral examination is a reasonably valid and reliable approach to assessing clinical reasoning skills and that graduating students demonstrated competency in the areas tested.