[Assessing the clinical competence of dental students]

Nowadays, the competences of dental students are tested more on the basis of quality of their achievements than the quantity. 'Objective Structured Clinical Examinations' (OSCEs) can be used in a pre-clinical phase to test these clinical competences. For the clinical phase, the general examination and the digital portfolio have been developed. Tests are used to stimulate the learning process and to determine whether students are ready for the next step; in addition, the quality of the programme is protected by the set of examinations. The results of the last 5 general examinations reveal the pattern that the number of correct answers increases as the study progresses. The Amsterdam Academic Centre for Dentistry (ACTA) introduced a digital portfolio which was evaluated 1 year later with the help ofan anonymous questionnaire. Students judged the use of the digital portfolio in the clinic to be useful but also costly in time.