Integrated practical examination: a novel approach to evaluate undergraduate medical students in physiology practices.

ABSTRACT

Background: The development of a reliable and valid method to assess laboratory exercises in preclinical sciences is a challenging task. The use of different assessment methods helps assess various aspects of clinical competence. Integrated Practical Examination (IPE) was thus incorporated as an assessment tool in physiology at Melaka Manipal Medical College (Manipal Campus), India aiming to test a wide range of practical skills and to improve the validity of our practical examinations. Methods: Three batches of first year medical students were tested by IPE which included two components objective structured practical examination (OSPE) and performance exercise (PE). Scores of each student of the study sample in PE and OSPE in the 4th block were analysed. Results and conclusion: Analysis of student scores in the examinations revealed that student performance in PE was better than that in OSPE for all three batches. The correlation coefficients between the marks on OSPE and PE were found to be poor for all three batches. There was a significant difference in the mean scores on OSPE for all three batches (P value=0.014). There was also a significant difference in the mean scores on PE for all three batches (P value=0.013). Analysis of student scores also exposed some of the deficiencies of PE and OSPE. Students have differing strengths and weaknesses and each component of IPE thus tests different aspects of knowledge, understanding and abilities.