title: Clinical grading in psychiatric clerkships.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The clinical grade assessment is the most frequently used and heavily weighted component in the overall assessment of U.S. psychiatry clerkship students, yet the topic is understudied. The authors aimed to learn more about the nature, perceived virtues, and deficiencies of the clinical grade evaluation.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 26-item questionnaire regarding the psychiatry clerkship clinical grading form was distributed to the clerkship directors of 129 medical schools in the U.S. and U.S. territories. The design of the document, its strengths, its weaknesses, grading outcomes, and utilization were assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Trends regarding clinical grading in psychiatry clerkships were detected. The clerkship grade form similarities, differences, desirable features, and utilization were ascertained, as were areas for improvement.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The search for an optimal clinical grading process for the thousands of third-year medical students rotating annually is formidable. However, collaboration among psychiatry clerkship directors on development and improvement of clinical evaluation forms can clarify learning objectives and lead to better clinical evaluation tools.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Norfolk, Virginia, USA. briscogw@evms.edu
authors.forename: Gregory W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Briscoe
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fore Arcand
authors.forename: Ruth E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Levine
authors.forename: Mitchell J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D002982:Clinical Clerkship; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors