Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Free State University, Bloemfontein.
S Afr Fam Pract (2004). 2020 Feb 4;62(1):e1-e9. doi: 10.4102/safp.v62i1.5030.
The outcome of the undergraduate medical programme is to produce clinically competent health care providers relevant for the South African context. Educational institutions find it hard to ensure the quality of assessments where competency must be assessed. This study aimed to compile an assessment framework that can be used to benchmark current assessment practices in the clinical phase of the undergraduate medical programme where competency must be certified.
In this observational, descriptive study, qualitative data were gathered using the steps described by the World Health Organization for rapid reviews. Literature was searched, screened and selected before data were analysed and a framework was constructed.
Twenty-five official documents were included in the study. The framework addressed the three components of quality assessment, namely, accreditation, assessment and quality assurance. Assessors should attend to the principles of assessment, namely, validity, reliability, fairness, feasibility, educational effect and acceptability, but realise that no assessment meets all these criteria. The first step to ensure quality assessment is to identify a clear outcome. Assessment should be planned and aligned with this outcome.
It is clear that clinical assessment is multidimensional and that no assessment is perfect. Programme accreditation, assessment practices and psychometrics can assist to improve the quality of assessment but cannot judge clinical competence. Using experienced assessors with a variety of assessment methods on a continuous basis is the proposed way to assess clinical competence. An assessment framework can assist to improve assessment, but it cannot guarantee quality assessment.
本科医学课程的目标是培养具有临床能力的医疗保健提供者，使其适应南非的国情。教育机构发现，要确保评估的质量（在这种情况下必须评估能力）非常困难。本研究旨在编制一个评估框架，可用于基准化本科医学课程临床阶段的现行评估实践，在该阶段必须对能力进行认证。
在这项观察性、描述性研究中，使用世界卫生组织（WHO）为快速审查描述的步骤收集定性数据。在进行数据分析和构建框架之前，对文献进行了检索、筛选和选择。
共有 25 份官方文件纳入研究。该框架涉及质量评估的三个组成部分，即认证、评估和质量保证。评估者应关注评估的原则，即有效性、可靠性、公平性、可行性、教育效果和可接受性，但要认识到没有任何评估符合所有这些标准。确保质量评估的第一步是明确一个明确的结果。评估应根据这一结果进行规划和调整。
很明显，临床评估是多维度的，没有任何评估是完美的。课程认证、评估实践和心理测量学可以帮助提高评估质量，但无法判断临床能力。持续使用具有各种评估方法的经验丰富的评估者是评估临床能力的建议方法。评估框架可以帮助提高评估质量，但不能保证质量评估。
