Assessment of basic medical sciences in an integrated systems-based curriculum

Basic medical sciences at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) are taught in a systems-based curriculum. During the development of the courses different formats have been used for the written examinations and also different types of questions. This paper compares students' performance in relation to examination format and to types of questions used. The formats were non-coordinated (NCAs), each discipline having a separate paper; coordinated (CAs), questions from various disciplines being given in the same paper but with separate sections for each discipline; and integrated assessments (IAs), questions being grouped under structure, function, and problem-based integrated long essays. The types of questions used were multiple choice (MCQs), short essays (SEQs), and structured integrated long essays (SILEQs). Students performed better in SEQs than in MCQs. Our analyses also show that SILEQs measure skills similar to those of MCQs and SEQs combined. Students performed best in NCAs. In CAs, students concentrated on those disciplines carrying most weight in the final grade. Currently we use IAs consisting of two parts: part I, comprising MCQs and SEQs, and part II, comprising SILEQs. To date, students are performing better in part II than in part I. We suggest that it is prudent to use different types of questions to measure students' knowledge and skills when IAs are used for systems-based courses.