Current methods in use for assessing clinical competencies: what works?

An online survey was used to capture qualitative descriptions of methods used by a veterinary college to assess clinical competencies in its students. Each college was specifically asked about use of the methods detailed in the Toolbox of Assessment Methods developed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the American Board of Medical Specialties. Additionally, each college was asked to detail the methods used to ensure competency in each of the nine areas specified by the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education. Associate deans of academic affairs or their equivalents at veterinary colleges in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the Caribbean were contacted by e-mail and asked to complete the survey. Responses were obtained from 24 of 32 colleges. The methods most often used were review of students' medical records (16), checklist evaluation of must-learn skills (16), procedural logs (11), multiple-choice skill examinations (11), case simulations using role-playing (7), short-answer skill examinations (7), global rating of live or recorded performance (7), case simulations using computerized case simulations (7), 360-degree evaluation of clinical performance (4), and standardized patient or client examination (3). Additional methods used included medical record portfolio review, paper-and-pencil branching problems, chart-stimulated oral exams, externship mentor evaluation, performance rubrics for clinical rotations, direct observation and query on cases, video evaluation, case correlation tasks, and an employer survey. Non-realistic models were used more often for skill evaluation than realistic models. One college used virtual-reality models for testing.