Grading medical students in a psychiatry clerkship: Correlation with the nbme subject examination scores and its implications

Abstract

Background/Objective: The author analyzed and compared various assessment methods for assessment of medical students; these methods included clinical assessment and the standardized National Board of Medical Education (NBME) subject examination. Method: Students were evaluated on their 6-week clerkship in psychiatry by both their clinical supervisors and the NBME exam. Results on clinical parameters and the standardized test were analyzed by correlation measures. Results: The total clinical grade did not correlate with the shelf-examination (NBME) scores. Knowledge-base scores correlated weakly with NBME examination scores. The shelf-examination scores showed a stronger correlation with the interpersonal component of the clinical grade than with the faculty assessment of the students' medical knowledge, history-taking skills, or clinical skills. Conclusion: Grades received by the students in clinical reasoning and data-synthesis, history-taking skills, and the total clinical grade, did not predict students' standardized examination score. Surprisingly, students with stronger interpersonal attributes performed better on the shelf-examination. © 2011 Academic Psychiatry.