Recommendations for High-Stakes Examinations for Public Malaysian Medical Faculties during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kamarul Aryffin Baharuddin,Ahmad Marzuki Omar,Nik Ahmad Zuky Nik Lah,Noor Fadzilah Zulkifli,Fairrul Kadir,Faridah Abdul Aziz,Zul Izhar Mohd Ismail,Nariman Singmamae,Norhafizah Mohtarrudin,Mohamad Najib Mat Pa,Ahmad Fuad Abdul Rahim,Roslina Abdul Manap,Mohd Azhar Mohd Noor,Effat Omar,Muhd Al-Aarifin Ismail,Salwani Ismail

doi:10.21315/eimj2020.12.4.4

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the Deans’ Council of Public Malaysian Medical Faculties to tackle the issue of examinations in the face of movement control orders (MCO). A task force decided that final professional examination is necessary and three recommendations have been proposed. Online examination is among the best option with strict adherence to the Malaysian Medical Council guidelines. The majority of the universities used a Moodle-based Learning Management System; the examination will therefore mainly cover cognitive outcomes focusing on final professional exit examinations. It felt that cheating, although a real issue, is manageable and came up with several recommendations for the implementation based on likely outcomes of the MCO.

Highlights

Changes are inevitable; what was normal yesterday may not be so today. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, the term “new normal” became popular to describe the new way we socialise, work, learn and live our lives
On 22nd April 2020, the Deans’ Council of Public Malaysian Medical Faculties formed a task force comprising all academic deputy deans of 11 participating medical faculties and representatives from medical education departments. This task force was given the responsibility to look at the feasibility of online examinations for medical programmes in Malaysia during the pandemic and provide recommendations for the Deans’ Council of Public Malaysian Medical Faculties
The impact scale of the present COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in recent history

Summary

Introduction

Changes are inevitable; what was normal yesterday may not be so today. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, the term “new normal” became popular to describe the new way we socialise, work, learn and live our lives. The final hurdle that medical educators need to leap over is the conduct of the examination, either theory or clinical examinations, whenever it is due. This task force was given the responsibility to look at the feasibility of online examinations for medical programmes in Malaysia during the pandemic and provide recommendations for the Deans’ Council of Public Malaysian Medical Faculties. This article reports on the various issues discussed by the task force and the recommendations it made regarding the assessment.

Results

Conclusion