ArticleBMC medical education2026
The Frankfurt 'whisper exam' - a case-based collaborative summative examination to assess clinical decision-making skills in hygiene, microbiology and virology- feasibility and evaluation.
Article in BMC medical education, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCollaborative assessment formats have gained increasing attention in medical education due to their potential to foster clinical reasoning, teamwork, and to reduce examination-related stress. However, evidence for their feasibility and acceptance within summative undergraduate medical curricula remains limited.
objectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and student perceptions of a case-based, collaborative summative examination ("whisper exam") in undergraduate medical education. Specifically, we explored students' perceptions of stress, preparation effort, teamwork, and the alignment between self-assessement and actual examination performance.
methodsA single-center, descriptive feasibility study was conducted with third-year medical students (n = 350) following a laboratory course in hygiene, microbiology, and virology. Students completed a digital, case-based examination using key-feature questions in pairs. Examination performance was recorded at the team level. Student perceptions were collected via a post-exam voluntary questionnaire and analyzed descriptively.
resultsThe overall pass rate was 93.1% (326/350 students). Survey responses were obtained from 190 students (54.3%). Most respondents reported lower perceived stress compared to individual examinations and described teamwork as constructive and enjoyable. Preparation effort was reported to be comparable to that required for individual examinations. Self-assessment of performance broadly aligned with examination outcomes, although a tendency toward underestimation was observed.
conclusionThe whisper exam was feasible to implement within a summative undergraduate curriculum and positively perceived by the majority of participating students. Findings suggest that collaborative, case-based examinations may complement existing assessment formats. Further research using comparative and multi-institutional designs is required to evaluate educational impact and validity.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.