title: Progress testing 2.0: clinical skills meets necessary science.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Progress testing has been widely used in medical schools to test scientific knowledge but has not been reported for assessing clinical skills.
  
  
  METHODS
  We designed a novel progress examination that included assessments of both clinical performance and underlying basic and social science knowledge. This Progress Clinical Skills Examination (PCSE) was given to 21 early medical students at the beginning and end of a 6-week pilot test of a new medical school curriculum.
  
  
  METHODS
  This examination was feasible for early students, easy to map to curricular objectives, and easy to grade using a combination of assessment strategies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Use of a PCSE is feasible for early medical students. As medical schools integrate clinical experience with underlying knowledge, this type of examination holds promise. Further data are needed to validate this examination as an accurate measure of clinical performance and knowledge.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, East Lansing, MI, USA; goldj@msu.edu.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gold
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, East Lansing, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: DeMuth
authors.affiliation: Office of Medical Education Research and Development, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, East Lansing, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mavis
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, East Lansing, MI, USA.|Office of College-Wide Assessment, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, East Lansing, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Dianne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wagner
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003142:Communication; D003479:Curriculum; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D008297:Male; D010808:Physical Examination
keywords: assessment; early clinical exposure; integration; pilot; progress test