Assuring the quality of high-stakes undergraduate assessments of clinical competence.

In the UK, and in many Commonwealth countries, a university degree is accepted by registration bodies as an indication of competence to practice as a PRHO or intern. Concerns have been raised that the quality of university examinations may not always be sufficient for such high-stakes decision-making. Assessments of clinical competence are subject to many potential sources of error.

Discovering professionalism through guided reflection.

Doctors need to identify and understand the professional behaviours of both themselves and others. In order for students to think critically about these issues we encouraged them to use the tenets of the General Medical Council's Duties of a Doctor as a framework in which to reflect on the actions of healthcare professionals at work. Although the critical incident technique is a well-known process for encouraging reflection, little is known about its usefulness for assessment purposes in this setting.

Student-selected components in the undergraduate medical curriculum: a multi-institutional consensus on assessable key tasks.

This paper describes further progress by the Northern Universities SSC Consortium in achieving consensus on the contribution of the Student Selected Components (SSCs) to undergraduate medical courses. Following the identification of common purposes and outcomes, the group has matched these to assessable key tasks which students may undertake in order to demonstrate competence on a range of attributes not normally fully assessed in the core curriculum. In some schools, SSCs may be the predominant route through which students gain exposure to research methods and reflective practice.

The introduction of large class problem-based learning into an undergraduate medical curriculum: an evaluation.

When considering implementing integrated curriculum models, such as problem-based learning (PBL), concerns may be expressed about the need for increased staff resources required to deliver tutor-led small group PBL. Less staff intensive ways of supporting PBL need to be explored. We compared the outcomes of a PBL module conducted in a large class format within a lecture theatre with a module having the same defined learning outcomes delivered in small group PBL format, both supported by e-learning resources.

Developing assessments of surgical skills for the GMC Performance Procedures.

Introduction: The objectives were to: (i) establish how 'typical' consultant surgeons perform on 'generic' (non-specialist) surgical simulations before their use in the General Medical Council's Performance Procedures (PPs); (ii) measure any differences in performance between specialties; and (iii) compare the performance of group of surgeons in the PPs with the 'typical' group.

Volunteers And Methods: Seventy-four consultant volunteers in gastrointestinal surgery (n=21), vascular surgery (n=11), urology (n=10), orthopaedics (n=15), cardiothoracic surgery (n=10) and plastic surgery (n=7), plus 9 surgeons undertaking phase 2 of the PPs undertook 7 simple simulations in the skills laboratory. The scores of the volunteers were analysed by simulation and specialty using ANOVA.

Developing an outcome-focused core curriculum.

Background: Many UK medical schools have modified their curricula to meet the requirements of the General Medical Council and other external agencies. In particular, efforts have been focused on increasing integration and reducing factual overload through the definition of a core curriculum. Various approaches to curriculum change have been adopted in an attempt to meet such demands.

Competence in the musculoskeletal system: assessing the progression of knowledge through an undergraduate medical course.

Background: Professional bodies have expressed concerns that medical students lack appropriate knowledge in musculoskeletal medicine despite its high prevalence of use within the community. Changes in curriculum and teaching strategies may be contributing factors to this. There is little evidence to evaluate the degree to which these concerns are justified.

Techniques for measuring clinical competence: objective structured clinical examinations.

The traditional clinical examination has been shown to have serious limitations in terms of its validity and reliability. The OSCE provides some answers to these limitations and has become very popular. Many variants on the original OSCE format now exist and much research has been done on various aspects of their use.

Student-selected components in the undergraduate medical curriculum: a multi-institutional consensus on purpose.

Student-selected components (SSCs) are an established part of undergraduate medical curricula in the UK. Implementation has been against a background of differing educational approaches to curricular change, together with a lack of clarity about their purpose, relationship with the core curriculum and contribution to overall assessment. This has resulted in a diversity of programmes with perceived differing importance between medical schools.

Managing the learning environment in undergraduate medical education: the Sheffield approach.

This paper describes one possible model for e-learning in undergraduate medical education with an emphasis on supporting and managing curriculum development. The University of Sheffield School of Medicine is undergoing a major revision of is undergraduate medical curriculum, prompted by requirements of the professional regulatory body, the General Medical Council (GMC), and the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). A computer-based system was developed to provide more efficient administration of the current course and more effective delivery of educational materials to students.