Reliability of a viva assessment of clinical reasoning in an Australian pre-professional osteopathy program assessed using generalizability theory.
- Author:
Brett VAUGHAN
1
;
Paul ORROCK
;
Sandra GRACE
Author Information
- Publication Type:Brief Communication
- Keywords: Australia; Osteopathic medicine; Physical examination; Psychometrics; Reproducibility of results
- MeSH: Australia; Humans; Osteopathic Medicine; Physical Examination; Psychometrics; Reproducibility of Results
- From:Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions 2017;14(1):1-
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: Clinical reasoning is situation-dependent and case-specific; therefore, assessments incorporating different patient presentations are warranted. The present study aimed to determine the reliability of a multi-station case-based viva assessment of clinical reasoning in an Australian pre-registration osteopathy program using generalizability theory. Students (from years 4 and 5) and examiners were recruited from the osteopathy program at Southern Cross University, Lismore, Australia. The study took place on a single day in the student teaching clinic. Examiners were trained before the examination. Students were allocated to 1 of 3 rounds consisting of 5 10-minute stations in an objective structured clinical examination-style. Generalizability analysis was used to explore the reliability of the examination. Fifteen students and 5 faculty members participated in the study. The examination produced a generalizability coefficient of 0.53, with 18 stations required to achieve a generalizability coefficient of 0.80. The reliability estimations were acceptable and the psychometric findings related to the marking rubric and overall scores were acceptable; however, further work is required in examiner training and ensuring consistent case difficulty to improve the reliability of the examination.
