Comparing the effectiveness of systematic recall time-based viva examination versus traditional viva examination of the 1st year medical undergraduates

Abstract

Background: Viva voce is a very important tool in assessment. The traditional viva examination (TVE) is said to be biased as it is unstructured, non-transparent, and subjective. Aims and Objectives: This study aims to compare the performance of students in systematic recall time-based viva examination (SRTBVE) versus TVE and to obtain students’ and faculty perception regarding SRTBVE as an assessment tool. Materials and Methods: The interventional study was carried out after taking permission from the Institutional Ethics Committee on 140 Ist MBBS students. Students were divided into three batches. TVE and SRTBVE were conducted on the same day for each batch. After the examination by both methods, student’s performance was compared and the feedback was collected from the students and faculties regarding both assessment methods through pre-validated questionnaire. Feedback was analyzed by descriptive statistics, includes percentage, and performance was analyzed using paired t-test. P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: There was a highly significant difference (P < 0.05) found between both types of examination showing better scoring with SRTBVE. Majority of the students and faculties felt that the viva questions were uniform, time given to think, and answers the given questions were adequate, stress faced due to sudden facing of the questions, and examiner was less, examiner’s personal bias was less. Conclusion: The performance of the students was better in SRTBVE as compared to TVE. Hence, SRTBVE is a better assessment tool which needs to be further validated.