Two ways to assess problems of evaluating third- and fourth-year medical students: a case study

Clinical faculty commonly acknowledge that they have difficulty evaluating third- and fourth-year medical students. The faculty and administration of the Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Medicine in New Orleans conducted pilot tests of two types of materials to assess these problems as part of the Clinical Evaluation Program undertaken by the Association of American Medical Colleges in 1984-1985. The two types of materials--questionnaires and the Problem-Case Analysis--were developed by the staff of the AAMC program and used by the LSU Department of Medicine and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology to identify problems in the process of evaluating clerks. Furthermore, the two methods proved complementary: both methods identified some of the same problems and each identified problems not identified by the other. Handling difficult students was the single problem identified by both methods in both departments. The questionnaires permit a simple method of collecting data about a broad range of problems. The Problem-Case Analysis, on the other hand, requires more time but evokes possible causes and alternative solutions, as well as identifying the problems. Improvement plans were developed by each department to address the problems that surfaced.