Progress testing 2.0: clinical skills meets necessary science

Progress testing has been widely used in medical schools to test scientific knowledge but has not been reported for assessing clinical skills.

We designed a novel progress examination that included assessments of both clinical performance and underlying basic and social science knowledge. This Progress Clinical Skills Examination (PCSE) was given to 21 early medical students at the beginning and end of a 6-week pilot test of a new medical school curriculum.

This examination was feasible for early students, easy to map to curricular objectives, and easy to grade using a combination of assessment strategies.

Use of a PCSE is feasible for early medical students. As medical schools integrate clinical experience with underlying knowledge, this type of examination holds promise. Further data are needed to validate this examination as an accurate measure of clinical performance and knowledge.