title: [Transposition of an American-designed comprehensive medical student examination within the framework of the forthcoming French nationwide comprehensive examination. A preliminary study].
abstract: Medical training is undergoing extensive revision in France. A nationwide comprehensive clinical competency examination will be administered for the first time in 2004, relying exclusively on essay-questions. Unfortunately, these questions have psychometric shortcomings, particularly their typically low reliability. High score reliability is mandatory in a high-stakes context. The National Board of Medical Examiners-designed multiple choice-questions (MCQ) are well adapted to assess clinical competency with a high reliability score. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that French medical students could take an American-designed and French-adapted comprehensive clinical knowledge examination with this MCQ format. Two hundred and eighty five French students, from four Medical Schools across France, took an examination composed of 200 MCQs under standardized conditions. Their scores were compared with those of American students. This examination was found assess French students' clinical knowledge with a high level of reliability. French students' scores were slightly lower than those of American students, mostly due to a lack of familiarity with this particular item format, and a lower motivational level. Another study is being designed, with a larger group, to address some of the shortcomings of the initial study. If these preliminary results are replicated, the MCQ format might be a more defendable and sensible alternative to the proposed essay questions.
authors.affiliation: Faculté de Médecine de Nice-Sophia-Antipolis, France. jpfourn@club-internet.fr
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Fournier
authors.forename: André F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: De Champlain
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Benchimol
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Staccini
authors.forename: Raja
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Subhiyah
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kohler
authors.forename: Bertrand
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Guidet
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Claudepierre
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prevel
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scoles
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Holtzman
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Angelucci
authors.forename: Cathy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McGrenra
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rampal
authors.forename: Donald
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Melnick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000592:standards*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008007:Licensure, Medical / Q000592:standards*; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014481:United States