MEASURING KNOWLEDGE AND CLINICAL REASONING SKILLS IN A PROBLEM-BASED CURRICULUM

The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of the Progr ess Test that was specially designed for measuring the growth of knowl edge and clinical reasoning skills in a problem-based medical curricul um. Scores and subscores of students from the different categories of the Progress Test were compared with their scores on a Clinical Reason ing Tests. Both the Progress Test and the Clinical Reasoning Test reve aled the same pattern of increasing scores over the years, and had a h igh intercorrelation. Further analyses revealed that the clinical scie nces subscore in the progress test explained the variations in the cli nical reasoning test scores. The knowledge of the behavioural sciences subscore made a small but independent contribution. The knowledge of the biomedical sciences subscore did not have this independent effect. These outcomes are discussed in this paper from the perspective of de velopment of medical expertise research and theory. Some educational c onsequences are also discussed.