Assessment of Clinical Competence: Supplementing Existing Tools

As the primary task of medical personnel is to correctly diagnose and appropriately treat a patient, a proper definition of clinical competence and its components is needed to validate the goals of medical education programmes. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) selected and endorsed a set of competencies to help define the foundational skills every practising physician should possess. These are patient care, medical knowledge, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, practice-based learning and improvement and systems-based practice. It is evident that assessment drives learning, and what is not assessed is not learnt. The objective of assessing the six core competencies as drafted by ACGME is comprehensive and meaningful assessment of learners. To be able to select appropriate assessment tools that measure aspects of performance that are meaningful, one must have an informed understanding of strengths and weaknesses of various assessment tools and techniques. Key concepts while assessing competence are validity, reliability and the utility or usefulness of a given tool when it is used for purposes of assessment. Although tools that focus on specific components of competencies are important in identifying baseline skill sets, equally important is the assessment of the learner's ability to put these skills together to perform the expected professional activities. Considering the differing utility index of different assessment methods, the medical educationalists are continuously looking for newer methods of assessment of competence. However, any assessment method is justified, if it enriches learning, boosts up learner's assertiveness and fosters change of curriculum.

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