title: The clinical skills assessment for international medical graduates in The Netherlands.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A need was felt to improve the quality of admission and licensing procedures for international medical graduates in The Netherlands.
  
  
  METHODS
  A clinical skills assessment was designed as part of a new procedure to realize a high-stakes, fair, transparent, and a time-limited path of admission for international medical graduates to the Dutch health care system. Additionally, it should provide a well-founded advice about length and content of additional medical training, should this be indicated by the outcome of the assessment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The clinical skills assessment procedure was developed as a Dutch variant of the "Step 2 Clinical Skills examination" of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) in collaboration with the United States National Board of Medical Examiners, which has a well-documented validity and reliability. The experience with the new procedure is yet limited, but enough to warrant a report.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Worldwide, a number of countries have developed such high-stake assessment procedures, but they show little uniformity and transparency. By describing the design and development of our procedure, we do not pretend to set a standard, but we hope to contribute to more fair, accurate and uniform approaches for doctors moving from one country to another.
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, The Netherlands. m.sonderen@aig.umcn.nl
authors.forename: Marye J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sonderen
authors.forename: Eddie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Denessen
authors.forename: Olle Th J Ten
authors.initials: OT
authors.lastname: Cate
authors.forename: Ted A W
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Splinter
authors.forename: Cornelis T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Postma
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D005550:Foreign Medical Graduates; D006801:Humans; D009426:Netherlands; D012570:School Admission Criteria