Using script concordance tests for assessing clinical reasoning skills of medical students

Abstract

The clinical reasoning competency has been identified as one of the core competencies, which is expected to be attained by an undergraduate medical student. It is difficult to assess the clinical reasoning skills in a standardized manner using the available existing tests. To address these gaps and to ensure standardization of the assessments, a script concordance test (SCT) has been designed and implemented in the field of medical education to assess different domains. The test is designed in such a way that it indicates the manner in which a doctor in authentic settings organizes their knowledge and attempts to solve the problem using clinical reasoning skills. In conclusion, the SCT in the field of medical education can be employed to assess clinical reasoning skills and the ability of the student to interpret the given findings under the clouds of uncertainty. Moreover, owing to the relative ease to create, administer, and score and because of better psychometric indices, each of the medical colleges should explore its possibility and implement it within their settings as a tool for teaching and assessment.