Self-reported competency ratings of graduates of a problem-based medical curriculum.
OBJECTIVE
To study the self-reports of professional competencies by graduates of a problem-based medical curriculum.


METHODS
All graduates from a medical school and a faculty of health sciences with a problem-based curriculum were sent a questionnaire asking them to compare their own performances in 19 domains with those of colleagues trained at schools with conventional curricula.


RESULTS
Overall, alumni of the medical school rated themselves as better than colleagues who were trained at schools with conventional curricula for cooperation skills, problem-solving skills, skills relevant to running meetings, and the ability to work independently. There was no difference for possession of general academic knowledge and writing reports or articles. The self-reported ratings of better competencies were maintained after correcting the data for self-overestimation.


CONCLUSIONS
The problem-based medical curriculum appears to contribute to the development of professional competencies. Further study is needed, however, to control for the effect of selection bias and respondents' emotional commitment to their alma mater.
Schmidt
H G
HG
Maastricht University, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. h.schmidt@fsw.eur.nl
van der Molen
H T
HT
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D015982:Bias; D003479:Curriculum / Q000592:standards*; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology* / Q000592:standards*; D018794:Problem-Based Learning / Q000592:standards*; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000592:standards*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012647:Self-Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires