Spontaneously retrievable knowledge of German general practitioners depending on time since graduation, measured with the progress test medicine.

General practitioners and general internists occupy a key position in German and Austrian healthcare systems. They provide primary care and act as gatekeepers between medical disciplines and sectors of care. Their explicit medical knowledge levels, however, can be quite disparate.

The educational impact of Mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise (Mini-CEX) and Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS) and its association with implementation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Mini Clinical Evaluation Exercise (Mini-CEX) and Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS) are used as formative assessments worldwide. Since an up-to-date comprehensive synthesis of the educational impact of Mini-CEX and DOPS is lacking, we performed a systematic review. Moreover, as the educational impact might be influenced by characteristics of the setting in which Mini-CEX and DOPS take place or their implementation status, we additionally investigated these potential influences.

Multiple true-false items: a comparison of scoring algorithms.

Multiple true-false (MTF) items are a widely used supplement to the commonly used single-best answer (Type A) multiple choice format. However, an optimal scoring algorithm for MTF items has not yet been established, as existing studies yielded conflicting results. Therefore, this study analyzes two questions: What is the optimal scoring algorithm for MTF items regarding reliability, difficulty index and item discrimination? How do the psychometric characteristics of different scoring algorithms compare to those of Type A questions used in the same exams? We used data from 37 medical exams conducted in 2015 (998 MTF and 2163 Type A items overall).

Why assessment in medical education needs a solid foundation in modern test theory.

Despite the frequent use of state-of-the-art psychometric models in the field of medical education, there is a growing body of literature that questions their usefulness in the assessment of medical competence. Essentially, a number of authors raised doubt about the appropriateness of psychometric models as a guiding framework to secure and refine current approaches to the assessment of medical competence. In addition, an intriguing phenomenon known as case specificity is specific to the controversy on the use of psychometric models for the assessment of medical competence.

The role of environmental and individual characteristics in the development of student achievement: a comparison between a traditional and a problem-based-learning curriculum.

In medical education, the effect of the educational environment on student achievement has primarily been investigated in comparisons between traditional and problem-based learning (PBL) curricula. As many of these studies have reached no clear conclusions on the superiority of the PBL approach, the effect of curricular reform on student performance remains an issue. We employed a theoretical framework that integrates antecedents of student achievement from various psychosocial domains to examine how students interact with their curricular environment.

On the role of biomedical knowledge in the acquisition of clinical knowledge.

Context: Basic science teaching in undergraduate medical education faces several challenges. One prominent discussion is focused on the relevance of biomedical knowledge to the development and integration of clinical knowledge. Although the value of basic science knowledge is generally emphasised, theoretical positions on the relative role of this knowledge and the optimal approach to its instruction differ.

Development of knowledge in basic sciences: a comparison of two medical curricula.

Context: Basic medical sciences education differs among medicine courses, especially as traditional and integrated problem-based learning (PBL) curricula teach basic sciences in very different ways. The literature shows no clear differences in the performance of students of these different educational philosophies. The Charité Medical University of Berlin (Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin) teaches both a traditional medical curriculum (TMC) and a PBL reformed medical curriculum (RMC).

Using the cumulative deviation method for cross-institutional benchmarking in the Berlin progress test.

The Berlin Progress Test has grown to a cooperation of 13 universities. Recently, comparisons between the participating schools became an area of high interest. Muijtjens et al.

Progress testing in German speaking countries.

Progress testing was introduced in 1999 at the Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin. This Berlin progress test medizin (PTM) started to cooperate with other Medical Schools in 2000. The cooperation grew continuously and now 13 Medical schools in Germany and Austria take part, including more than 8500 Students.

Using the Progress Test Medizin (PTM) for evaluation of the Medical Curriculum Munich (MeCuM).

Aims: The Medical Curriculum Munich (MeCuM) has been implemented since 2004 and was completely established in 2007. In this study the clinical part of MeCuM was evaluated with respect to retention of the knowledge in internal medicine (learning objectives of the 6th/7th semester).

Methods: In summer of 2009 and winter of 2009/2010 1065 students participated in the Progress Test Medizin (PTM) from Charité Medical School Berlin.