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Pre-test and post-test in a medicine clerkship
Medical Education
|November 1, 1980
Summary
Medical students significantly improved their scores on a medicine clerkship post-test compared to their pre-test scores. This improvement occurred despite pre-test scores not increasing throughout the year, suggesting effective learning during the clinical clerkship.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education Research
- Clinical Skills Assessment
Background:
- Assessing the effectiveness of clinical clerkships is crucial for medical education.
- Understanding student learning trajectories within a 3-month medicine clerkship is essential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the learning gains of medical students during a 3-month medicine clerkship.
- To correlate pre-test, post-test, and clinical performance scores.
Main Methods:
- 132 medical students took an optional pre-test (previous quarter's post-test) at the start of their 3-month medicine clerkship.
- Post-test scores were compared to pre-test scores.
- Correlations between pre-test, post-test, and clinical performance were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Significant improvement was observed between pre-test and post-test scores (P=0.0001).
- Pre-test scores did not increase across the four quarters, despite accumulating clinical experience.
- Positive correlations were found between pre-test and post-test scores (r=0.591), pre-test and clinical performance (r=0.306), and post-test and clinical performance (r=0.329).
Conclusions:
- The medicine clerkship effectively enhances student knowledge and skills.
- Student motivation may influence the timing of their first clinical clerkship, impacting initial performance.
- The study highlights the value of formative assessments in clinical education.