LESSONS LEARNED FROM 6 YEARS OF INTERNATIONAL ADMINISTRATIONS OF THE ECFMG SP-BASED CLINICAL SKILLS ASSESSMENT

Purpose. The Educational Commission on Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFM G) conducted international clinical skills assessments (CSAs) to evalu ate the readiness of foreign medical graduates to enter U.S. residency programs, to validate national medical examinations in other countrie s, and to introduce other countries to new methods of evaluating medic al students. Method. The ECFMG conducted CSA studies in the United Sta tes, Israel, Spain (Madrid and Barcelona), Ukraine, and Brazil between 1989 and 1995. ECFMG staff worked with local teams in following a sev en-phase implementation process. The CSAs were conducted in each count ry's native language, and clinical cases were translated from English and culturally adapted. A total of 636 examinees took a ten station st andardized patient-based examination. Results. A comparison of test re sults indicated stable psychometric properties and similar patterns of relationships among test components across all six countries, In ever y country, physical-examination and patient note mean scores were lowe r than were history taking scores, indicating the possibility of commo n skill deficiencies. Conclusion. The successful completion of interna tional CSA projects in six countries suggests that high-quality standa rdized CSA projects are feasible and can be implemented from long dist ances.