Journal Article
Intercollegiate specialty board oral examinations in surgery: purpose, content and marking criteria
M.H. Davis, G.G. Ponnamperuma, S. McAleer & D. Galloway
June 2008
South East Asian Journal of Medical Education, Volume 2, Issue 1, Pages 7 – 13
The traditional viva has been much criticised in the literature for lack of reliability and validity, but its use has continued in some postgraduate exams in the UK and commonwealth countries.
This study was designed to identify what examiners in nine sub-specialties of one discipline (surgery) thought they were testing in a viva and to introduce standardisation into the existing five-point marking scale used to grade candidates’ performance in the viva.
Three hundred and one surgical examiners took part in one of eight similar workshops that used a plenary method to identify what the examiners thought they were assessing in the viva and a small group approach to identify descriptors for each point on the five-point marking scale. The examiners identified what they were assessing, and their answers were then categorised into three meta-competencies: professional ability/patient care; knowledge and judgement; and quality of response. The examiners used their experience of examining to identify descriptors for each point on the existing five-point rating scale. The descriptors were grouped under one of the three meta-competencies to create marking criteria for the new scenario-based oral exam that will be part of a larger clinical exam.
The meta-competencies are similar to those identified by other postgraduate oral exams. This study is reported as the methodology for the study and the meta-competencies being assessed may have wider application.