Evaluating Intersite Consistency Across 11 Geographically Distinct Pediatric Clerkship Training Sites: Providing...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education Research
• Pediatric Clerkship Assessment
• Curriculum Development

Background:

• A significant curriculum overhaul was implemented for the pediatric clerkship.
• The study addresses the need to evaluate assessment consistency across diverse learning environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine intersite consistency in student assessments following a major curriculum change.
• To establish a benchmark for program evaluation success in pediatric clerkship education.

Main Methods:

• Compared core pediatric clerkship student assessments across 11 geographically distinct sites.
• Utilized data from 859 graduating students (2015-2019), including analysis of covariance and multivariate logistic regression.
• Controlled for Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores and pre-clerkship National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) exam scores.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant performance differences were found between the majority of training sites.
• Clerkship site accounted for only 3% of the additional variance in the final clerkship grade after controlling for prior academic achievement.
• 833 students (97%) were included in the final analysis.

Conclusions:

• Student performance in pediatric clerkship clinical knowledge and skills was consistent across 11 varied geographic teaching sites post-curriculum overhaul.
• Maintaining intersite consistency is achievable through specialty-specific curriculum resources, faculty development, and standardized assessment of learning objectives.
• These findings support the success of the curriculum changes in ensuring equitable student assessment across diverse educational settings.