Claudia Véliz1, Javiera Fuentes-Cimma2, Eduardo Fuentes-López3, Arnoldo Riquelme4. 1. School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile. 2. Physiotherapy Program, Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile. 3. Speech-Language Pathology Program, Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile. 4. Department of Gastroenterology, Centre for Medical Education and Health Sciences, Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Workplace-based assessment is a key component of dental-student clerkships, allowing students to demonstrate clinical proficiency. PURPOSE: This study adapts the Mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise (Mini-CEX) to a dentistry-program clerkship, analyzing the results and examining the psychometric properties of Mini-CEX. METHODS: First, Delphi panel methodology was used to ensure content validity. Mini-CEX was then piloted in the dental-clerkship program, with each student assessed by at least 2 supervisors and a peer student. Subsequently, psychometric properties, acceptability, and observation time were analyzed. RESULTS: The study was conducted between July and November 2019. Overall, 140 Mini-CEX evaluation exercises were carried out on 30 students by 84 supervisors and 56 peers. The adapted instrument was found to be unidimensional, obtaining an acceptable internal consistency (α = 0.74). As the assessor type changed, there were differences in observation time; the medians (Q1-Q3) were 10 minutes (5-15) for supervisors and 30 minutes (20-45) for peer students (P < 0.001). This difference was also observed in assessor perceptions (P < 0.001), with supervisors scoring a median of 6 (6-6.75) and peer students scoring a median of 7 (6-7). No differences were found between supervisor and peer scores. CONCLUSION: The adapted version of Mini-CEX can objectively assess the clinical performance of dental students, achieving validity and reliability values similar to those obtained in the original instrument.
BACKGROUND: Workplace-based assessment is a key component of dental-student clerkships, allowing students to demonstrate clinical proficiency. PURPOSE: This study adapts the Mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise (Mini-CEX) to a dentistry-program clerkship, analyzing the results and examining the psychometric properties of Mini-CEX. METHODS: First, Delphi panel methodology was used to ensure content validity. Mini-CEX was then piloted in the dental-clerkship program, with each student assessed by at least 2 supervisors and a peer student. Subsequently, psychometric properties, acceptability, and observation time were analyzed. RESULTS: The study was conducted between July and November 2019. Overall, 140 Mini-CEX evaluation exercises were carried out on 30 students by 84 supervisors and 56 peers. The adapted instrument was found to be unidimensional, obtaining an acceptable internal consistency (α = 0.74). As the assessor type changed, there were differences in observation time; the medians (Q1-Q3) were 10 minutes (5-15) for supervisors and 30 minutes (20-45) for peer students (P < 0.001). This difference was also observed in assessor perceptions (P < 0.001), with supervisors scoring a median of 6 (6-6.75) and peer students scoring a median of 7 (6-7). No differences were found between supervisor and peer scores. CONCLUSION: The adapted version of Mini-CEX can objectively assess the clinical performance of dental students, achieving validity and reliability values similar to those obtained in the original instrument.