title: Validity, reliability, feasibility and satisfaction of the Mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise (Mini-CEX) for cardiology residency training.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the study was to determine the validity, reliability, feasibility and satisfaction of the Mini-CEX.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From May 2003 to December 2004, 108 residents from 17 cardiology residency programs in Buenos Aires were monitored by the educational board of the Argentine Society of Cardiology. Validity was evaluated by the instrument's capability to discriminate between pre-existing levels of clinical seniority. For reliability, generalisability theory was used. Feasibility was defined by a minimum number of completed observations: 50% of the residents obtaining at least four Mini-CEX's. Satisfaction was evaluated through a one to nine rating scale from the evaluators, and residents' perspectives. The total number of encounters was 253. Regarding validity, Mini-CEX was able to discriminate significantly between residents of different seniority. Reliability analysis indicated that a minimum of ten evaluations are necessary to produce a minimally reliable inference, but more are preferable. Feasibility was poor: 15% of the residents were evaluated four or more times during the study period. High satisfaction ratings from evaluators' and residents' were achieved.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mini-CEX discriminates between pre-existing levels of seniority, requires considerable sampling to achieve sufficient reliability, and was not feasible within the current circumstances, but it was considered a valuable assessment tool as indicated by the evaluators' and residents' satisfaction ratings.
authors.affiliation: Educational Department, Argentine Society of Cardiology, Azcuenaga 980 (C1115AAD), Buenos Aires, Argentina. aealvesdel.ma@fibertel.com.ar
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alves de Lima
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barrero
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baratta
authors.forename: Yanina
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Castillo Costa
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bortman
authors.forename: Justo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carabajales
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Conde
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galli
authors.forename: Graciela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Degrange
authors.forename: Cees
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Van der Vleuten
mesh_terms: D001118:Argentina; D002309:Cardiology / Q000193:education*; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results