Does performance on United States national board of medical examiners reflect student clinical experiences in United Arab Emirates?

John Norcini,Saif Alshamsi,Ali Al Dhanhani,Omran Bakoush,Janet Grant

doi:10.15694/mep.2019.000004.1

Abstract

This article was migrated. The article was not marked as recommended. Background: A number of medical schools around the world use the United States National Board of Medical Examiners Subject Examinations as a clerkship assessment of student performance, yet these exams were blueprinted against the United States national core clerkship curriculum which might not be the same as the local curricula to which they are applied in other parts of the world. In this study, we investigated the correlations between the internal medicine clinical experiences at United Arab Emirates University with student performance on the National Board of Medical Examiners subject of internal medicine (NBME). Methods: One hundred and seven junior clerkship students out of 145 (74%) who finished their Internal Medicine clerkship during academic years 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 participated in this study. The students' clinical experiences were measured by the clinical learning evaluation questionnaire (CLEQ) and by the logged number of meaningful patient contacts during their internal medicine clerkship. Results: Linear regression analysis showed no significant association between performance on the subject test and student clinical experiences measured by the CLEQ or the number of logged patients. NBME scores were weakly correlated with OSCEs scores (ɸ 0.20). Conclusions: The study findings raised uncertainties about the suitability of using NBME in the clerkship assessment program in the United Arab Emirates.

Highlights

Undergraduate medical curricula strive to produce future doctors equipped with clinical knowledge and skills sufficient to practice and improve patient care
The National Board of Medical Examiners Subject Exams (NBMESE) is a highly regarded tool used in the assessment of the clinical knowledge that students acquired during clerkship (Bass et al, 1997; Elnicki, Lescisin and Case, 2002)
These differences might alter the utility of the NBMESE as a valid measure of student clinical knowledge acquired during the clerkship outside the United States (US) (Griffith et al, 2009)

Summary

Introduction

Undergraduate medical curricula strive to produce future doctors equipped with clinical knowledge and skills sufficient to practice and improve patient care. Because of NBMESE’s high reliability, benchmarking function, and practicality of administration, many medical schools outside the US, including United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), use the NBME Subject Exams for clerkship assessment of student academic achievement (Colthart et al, 2008). The differences in clinical learning environment, the patients’ population, and health care practices might contribute to significant variations in clinical teaching and student clinical experiences between countries and even regions within the same country These differences might alter the utility of the NBMESE as a valid measure of student clinical knowledge acquired during the clerkship outside the US (Griffith et al, 2009). We investigated the correlations between the internal medicine clinical experiences at United Arab Emirates University with student performance on the National Board of Medical Examiners subject of internal medicine (NBME)

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Conclusion