Does sharing information before a clinical skills examination impact student performance?

Clinical performance examinations (CPX) often must be administered over several sessions to accommodate a large number of students, resulting in the potential for breaches in examination security.

This study addressed the impact of information sharing by medical students on CPX scores.

Questionnaires about prior knowledge of diagnosis related to the case (Questionnaire I), and information sharing across the examination (Questionnaire II) were obtained. The students were categorized into two groups: prior knowledge of the diagnosis or information sharing.

54.5% students received some information before the CPX, and 55.9% among them obtained information in the form of printed documents. Many students obtained information about the diagnosis and the information was helpful. There were no statistical differences in the scores between two groups. 25-30 % of the students thought they had prior knowledge of the diagnosis of each case before the CPX.

More than half of the students obtained some information before taking the CPX regarding the examination content. The impact of information sharing on CPX scores was negligible. My findings support the importance of the application of knowledge and the demonstration of skills that are highlighted in this assessment.