Ways to Improve Scores in Objective-Base Long Case Examination For 6th-Year Medical Students in the Internal Medicine Rotation
Siraphop Suwannaroj MD1, Kittisak Sawanyawisuth MD, PhD1,2, Anupol Panitchote MD1, Kanchana Chansung MD1
Affiliation : 1 Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand 2 Sleep apnea research group, Research Center in Back, Neck Other Joint Pain and Human Performance (BNOJPH), Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Objective : To evaluate strengths and weaknesses of 6th year medical students in the long case examination.
Materials and Methods : The authors retrospectively reviewed a checklist of all 6th year medical students who undewent the
long case examination during the internal medicine rotation in 2013. The numbers of students who received “improvement
required” matrix in each domain were tabulated with the category status by the total score. This association was calculated
among groups and between those who were in the “passed” vs the “good” category.
Results : In 2013, 227 medical students completed the examination. The average score of all of the students was 75.4 (S.D.
10.6). There were 11 students (4.8%) who failed the long-case examination. The top three domains with “improvement
required” matrices were clinical reasoning (40 students or 28.0%), decision making (39 students or 27.3%), and physical
examination (27 students or 18.9%). Four domains differed significantly in the “passed” and “good” categories: history
taking, physical examination, data gathering, and clinical reasoning.
Conclusion : To improve scores, student should work to improve in the following four clinical domains: history taking,
physical examination, data gathering, and clinical reasoning.
Keywords : assessment; medical students; internal medicine; clinical reasoning
