Validity, reliability and feasibility of a new observation rating tool and a post encounter rating tool for the assessment of clinical reasoning skills of medical students during their internal medicine clerkship: a pilot study.

Background: Systematic assessment of clinical reasoning skills of medical students in clinical practice is very difficult. This is partly caused by the lack of understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying the process of clinical reasoning.

Methods: We previously developed an observation tool to assess the clinical reasoning skills of medical students during clinical practice.

Observable phenomena that reveal medical students' clinical reasoning ability during expert assessment of their history taking: a qualitative study.

Background: During their clerkships, medical students are meant to expand their clinical reasoning skills during their patient encounters. Observation of these encounters could reveal important information on the students' clinical reasoning abilities, especially during history taking.

Methods: A grounded theory approach was used to analyze what expert physicians apply as indicators in their assessment of medical students' diagnostic reasoning abilities during history taking.

Student performance of the general physical examination in internal medicine: an observational study.

Background: Many practicing physicians lack skills in physical examination. It is not known whether physical examination skills already show deficiencies after an early phase of clinical training. At the end of the internal medicine clerkship students are expected to be able to perform a general physical examination in every new patient encounter.