Clinical Skills Assessment in the Twenty-First Century

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Clinical Practice
• Professional Identity

Background:

• Clinical skills are fundamental to medical practice and physician identity.
• Evidence suggests a decline in the practice of certain clinical skills, especially in the US.
• Declining practice can lead to reduced teaching, assessment, and further skill deterioration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To summarize contemporary approaches for assessing clinical skills.
• To highlight assessment strategies that can support the maintenance of bedside clinical skills.

Main Methods:

• Review of contemporary clinical skills assessment strategies.
• Analysis of the role of assessment in driving clinical skills learning and practice.

Main Results:

• Contemporary assessment methods can effectively support clinical skills.
• Wider adoption of these methods is crucial for skill maintenance.

Conclusions:

• Assessment is a key driver for both learning and practicing clinical skills.
• Implementing modern assessment techniques is essential for reinvigorating bedside clinical skills.