Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32778079›Full record

ArticleBMC medical education2020

Proficiency testing for identifying underperforming students before postgraduate education: a longitudinal study.

Vasiliki Andreou, Jan Eggermont, Guy Gielis, Birgitte Schoenmakers

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical education, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Vasiliki AndreouDepartment of Public Health and Primacy Care, Academic Center for General Practice, KU Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 33 Blok j-Box 7001, 3000, Leuven, Belgium. vasiliki.andreou@kuleuven.be.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6679-0514
Jan EggermontDepartment of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8497-1159
Guy GielisInteruniversity Center for GP Training, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
Birgitte SchoenmakersDepartment of Public Health and Primacy Care, Academic Center for General Practice, KU Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 33 Blok j-Box 7001, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEfficient selection of medical students in GP training plays an important role in improving healthcare quality. The aim of this study was to collect quantitative and qualitative validity evidence of a multicomponent proficiency-test for identifying underperforming students in cognitive and non-cognitive competencies, prior to entering postgraduate GP Training. From 2016 to 2018, 894 medical GP students in four Flemish universities in Belgium registered to take a multicomponent proficiency-test before admission to postgraduate GP Training. Data on students were obtained from the proficiency-test as a test-score and from traineeship mentors' narrative reports.

resultsIn total, 849 students took the multicomponent proficiency-test during 2016-2018. Test scores were normally distributed. Five different descriptive labels were extracted from mentors' narrative reports based on thematic analysis, considering both cognitive and non-cognitive competences. Chi-square tests and odds ratio showed a significant association between students scoring low on the proficiency-test and having gaps in cognitive and non-cognitive competencies during GP traineeship.

conclusionA multicomponent proficiency-test could detect underperforming students prior to postgraduate GP Training. Students that ranked in the lowest score quartile had a higher likelihood of being labelled as underperforming than students in the highest score quartile. Therefore, a low score in the multicomponent proficiency-test could indicate the need for closer guidance and early remediating actions focusing on both cognitive and non-cognitive competencies.

Indexed as

Students, MedicalBelgiumEducational MeasurementEducation, Medical, GraduateHumansLongitudinal StudiesGeneral practiceMedical educationPostgraduate educationProficiency testingSchool admissionValidity

Identifiers

PMID32778079
PMCPMC7418413

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.