Abstract
BackgroundThe multiple mini-interview (MMI) is a common assessment strategy used in student selection. The MMI as an assessment strategy within a health professions curriculum, however, has not been previously studied. This study describes the integration of a 5-station MMI as part of an end-of-year capstone following the first year of a health professions curriculum. The goal of the capstone MMI was to assess professional competencies of students and to offer formative feedback to prepare students for their upcoming clinical practice experiences. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of an MMI integrated into a health professions curriculum.MethodsFive capstone MMI stations were designed to each evaluate a single construct assessed by one rater. A principal component analysis (PCA) was used to evaluate the structure of the model and its ability to distinguish 5 separate constructs. A Multifaceted Rasch Measurement (MFRM) model assessed student performance and estimated the sources of measurement error attributed to 3 facets: student ability, rater stringency, and station difficulty. At the conclusion, students were surveyed about the capstone MMI experience.ResultsThe PCA confirmed the MMI reliably assessed 5 unique constructs and performance on each station was not strongly correlated with one another. The 3-facet MFRM analysis explained 58.79% of the total variance in student scores. Specifically, 29.98% of the variance reflected student ability, 20.25% reflected rater stringency, and 8.56% reflected station difficulty. Overall, the data demonstrated an acceptable fit to the MFRM model. The majority of students agreed the MMI allowed them to effectively demonstrate their communication (80.82%), critical thinking (78.77%), and collaboration skills (70.55%).ConclusionsThe MMI can be a valuable assessment strategy of professional competence within a health professions curriculum. These findings suggest the MMI is well-received by students and can produce reliable results. Future research should explore the impact of using the MMI as a strategy to monitor longitudinal competency development and inform feedback approaches.
Highlights
The multiple mini-interview (MMI) is a common assessment strategy used in student selection
The multiple mini interview (MMI) is a popular assessment strategy at the point of admissions to evaluate professional competence and far it has not been explored as an assessment method beyond student selection [9]
objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE) often serve as the choice strategy to evaluate competence within health professions curricula; we argue the MMI could be a feasible and advantageous alternative based on distinct differences between the two assessment methods
Summary
The multiple mini-interview (MMI) is a common assessment strategy used in student selection. The assessment of professional competence, frequently described as noncognitive or nonacademic constructs, may include questionnaires, surveys, objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE), and self-assessment scales. These strategies target professional competence by evaluating specific attributes such as communication, empathy, and integrity [7, 8]. The multiple mini interview (MMI) is a popular assessment strategy at the point of admissions to evaluate professional competence and far it has not been explored as an assessment method beyond student selection [9]. In an MMI, students rotate among several stations, similar to their participation in an OSCE circuit, and in each room, they are expected to engage with an interviewer or actor who evaluates them on select criteria [9, 10]
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