Assessing skills in pharmacology in medical students

The results of this pilot survey have shown the importance of evaluation of medical student knowledge in pharmacology using three independent parts of the examination. The final mark includes the results of a written test, oral examination and evaluation of seminar essay. We evaluated students with final grade A (n=76) and F (n=61) in relation to the results of tests and seminar essays. Most of the students with grade A (88.2 %) wrote the test in the upper range (90-99 %) and their seminar essay evaluations were grade A in 82.9 %. A significant correlation between the results in the test and the mark obtained in the seminar essay was found (r=0.22, p<0.05). Another group of students with grade F obtained low scores in the test (57.4 %), and a relatively large part of students got satisfactory results in test (42.6 %). In this group the quality of seminar essays was variable ranged from A to E. The evaluation showed that in students with final grade A were all three independent part of exam in agreement with final classification. The differences occurred in group of unsuccessful students who performed much better in written part than in the oral examination. The experience with the final assessment of medical student knowledge in pharmacology showed that the most important essay evaluation seems to be the oral form of exam. The results of seminar evaluations correspond satisfactory with the performance of students during the final exam and their effort may continue in diploma work, which is mandatory for all medical students (Tab. 2, Fig. 1, Ref. 2).