Are Open-Ended Question Assessments an Emerging Trend in US Medical Education?

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Assessment in Medical Training
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Growing literature supports open-ended questions (OEQs) for assessing medical knowledge.
• The prevalence and application of OEQs in US medical schools remain largely uncharacterized.
• Understanding current OEQ usage is crucial for evaluating their role in medical training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the emerging trend of OEQ assessments in US medical education.
• To identify the prevalence of OEQ use across US medical schools.
• To explore how OEQs are currently implemented in medical curricula.

Main Methods:

• An online survey was distributed to assessment leadership at 156 US accredited allopathic medical schools.
• Surveys collected data on the use and future interest in OEQs for pre-clerkship and clerkship assessments.
• Descriptive statistics and conventional content analysis were used to analyze survey responses.

Main Results:

• A 50% response rate was achieved, with 78 schools participating.
• 51% of responding schools (40 schools) reported using OEQs for medical knowledge assessment.
• OEQs constituted an average of 20% of pre-clerkship and 11% of clerkship assessments, used to gauge understanding and promote deeper learning.

Conclusions:

• The adoption of OEQs in US medical schools suggests this assessment format is feasible and an emerging trend.
• Medical institutions can enhance assessments by integrating diverse question formats beyond multiple-choice questions.
• Further research is needed to explore OEQ utility and address implementation challenges.