Examinations
Table of contents
The future of examinations in medical studies - skills-oriented and practical
The demands placed on prospective doctors are constantly changing - as are the examination formats that assess their skills. In order to make medical training practical and future-oriented, conventional examinations are to be further developed and more closely aligned with clinical reality.
A central component of this reform is the planned redesign of the oral-practical examination (M3) as part of the state examination. Instead of the previous format, the M3 exam will in future be conducted as an "examination on the patient". This new concept places a stronger focus on the assessment of clinical and communication skills in direct patient contact.
In addition to the changed examination format, structured, competence-oriented assessment forms will also be introduced. These enable a more objective and standardized assessment of examination performance and ensure that all relevant medical skills are adequately recorded.
Pilot project for the new M3 examination
In order to test and further develop this new examination format, the Institute for Didactics and Teaching Research in Medicine (IDL) is actively involved in piloting the new M3 exam in cooperation with the Institute for Medical and Pharmaceutical Examination Questions (IMPP). In M3 exam simulations, the processes and assessment instruments are tested under realistic conditions. The results of these pilot projects, which were also carried out in cooperation with teaching practices, provide important findings for the further optimization of the examination format and assessment tools.
These pilot projects help to ensure that the examinations in medical studies are forward-looking, practice-oriented and fair - and thus provide the best possible start to a career as a doctor.
The Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine has also developed "Guidelines for conducting internal faculty examinations for degree programs in medicine and dentistry", which are continuously adapted to current circumstances and developments.
Tablet-based examinations
In the summer semester of 2018, a complete written success monitoring was carried out exclusively electronically on tablets for the first time at TU Dresden.
The pilot project was preceded by a 6-month preparation phase in which the scope of application and, above all, possible sources of error were analyzed. In addition, the workflow on the day of the test had to be defined and tested.
The results of the pilot test were very positive for all those involved: the students were satisfied in the subsequent evaluation, especially because modern examination formats were used. The examiners were particularly pleased with the largely smooth technical process.
The successful first round will open up a wide range of new possibilities for exam design in the future, for example by incorporating images or videos into exams. The exams can be generated in a large number of variants with identical questions. The electronic exam is tamper-proof and fraud-proof. The feedback of examination results to students is accelerated. The use of tablets in examinations can save a lot of paper and, after the trial phase, also a lot of time.
Of course, as is generally the case for electronic examinations, there is a need for additional personnel for maintaining the technology, software updates, training, data server support, etc., which cannot be neglected for routine use. However, this effort cannot be quantified with certainty at the present time and further opportunities are needed to gather experience.
In order to be able to carry out further tablet-based examinations, however, the legal framework conditions must first be created at the faculty. Only when the electronic examination procedure is anchored in the study regulations will it be possible to carry out such an examination in a justiciable manner.
Contact: Maike Linke