Exploring the perception of medical students and lecturers on the consequential validity of medical long case
Abstract Introduction The long case is a historical clinical assessment method for medical students but is being phased out due to low reliability arising from the difficulty in standardization of the assessment. However, it’s an educationally valuable assessment, whose consequential validity has go...
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BMC
2025-04-01
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| Series: | BMC Medical Education |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-07055-4 |
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| author | Jacob Kumakech Ian Guyton Munabi Aloysius Gonzaga Mubuuke Sarah Kiguli |
| author_facet | Jacob Kumakech Ian Guyton Munabi Aloysius Gonzaga Mubuuke Sarah Kiguli |
| author_sort | Jacob Kumakech |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Introduction The long case is a historical clinical assessment method for medical students but is being phased out due to low reliability arising from the difficulty in standardization of the assessment. However, it’s an educationally valuable assessment, whose consequential validity has got little attention in the literature. Objective The aim of the study was to explore the consequential validity of the long case as perceived by medical students and lecturers. Methodology The study followed an interpretivist approach utilizing qualitative methods of data collection. Data was collected through Focus Group Discussions with medical students (n = 6) as well as Key Informant Interviews with lecturers (n = 5). The qualitative data was analyzed by deductive qualitative analysis utilizing Cook and Lineberry framework for evaluating the educational impact of an assessment. Results & discussion The study found that the long case is an educationally valuable assessment method because it is authentic and provides a holistic approach to clinical assessment. The assessment promotes professional identity development as students assume the role of a physician. Though reliability was reported as the main weakness of the long case, participants were strongly in favor of the long case especially for formative assessment. It was also noted that awarding marks in the formative assessment serves as a major incentive for students to do more long cases. Though, the study reported patients being uncooperative to students sometimes, it lacked the voices of the patients yet they are a major player during the long case assessment. Conclusion The long case is an educationally valuable assessment for formative evaluation of medical students and offers great potential for professional development. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-44cdfa40c9df4bc1a67a264e372a40ca |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1472-6920 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Medical Education |
| spelling | doaj-art-44cdfa40c9df4bc1a67a264e372a40ca2025-08-20T02:30:18ZengBMCBMC Medical Education1472-69202025-04-012511810.1186/s12909-025-07055-4Exploring the perception of medical students and lecturers on the consequential validity of medical long caseJacob Kumakech0Ian Guyton Munabi1Aloysius Gonzaga Mubuuke2Sarah Kiguli3School of Medicine, Department of Paediatrics & Child Health, Makerere UniversitySchool of Biomedical Sciences, Department of Anatomy, Makerere UniversitySchool of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Makerere UniversitySchool of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics & Child Health, Makerere UniversityAbstract Introduction The long case is a historical clinical assessment method for medical students but is being phased out due to low reliability arising from the difficulty in standardization of the assessment. However, it’s an educationally valuable assessment, whose consequential validity has got little attention in the literature. Objective The aim of the study was to explore the consequential validity of the long case as perceived by medical students and lecturers. Methodology The study followed an interpretivist approach utilizing qualitative methods of data collection. Data was collected through Focus Group Discussions with medical students (n = 6) as well as Key Informant Interviews with lecturers (n = 5). The qualitative data was analyzed by deductive qualitative analysis utilizing Cook and Lineberry framework for evaluating the educational impact of an assessment. Results & discussion The study found that the long case is an educationally valuable assessment method because it is authentic and provides a holistic approach to clinical assessment. The assessment promotes professional identity development as students assume the role of a physician. Though reliability was reported as the main weakness of the long case, participants were strongly in favor of the long case especially for formative assessment. It was also noted that awarding marks in the formative assessment serves as a major incentive for students to do more long cases. Though, the study reported patients being uncooperative to students sometimes, it lacked the voices of the patients yet they are a major player during the long case assessment. Conclusion The long case is an educationally valuable assessment for formative evaluation of medical students and offers great potential for professional development.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-07055-4Long caseAssessmentPerceptionsConsequential validityEducation impact of an assessment |
| spellingShingle | Jacob Kumakech Ian Guyton Munabi Aloysius Gonzaga Mubuuke Sarah Kiguli Exploring the perception of medical students and lecturers on the consequential validity of medical long case BMC Medical Education Long case Assessment Perceptions Consequential validity Education impact of an assessment |
| title | Exploring the perception of medical students and lecturers on the consequential validity of medical long case |
| title_full | Exploring the perception of medical students and lecturers on the consequential validity of medical long case |
| title_fullStr | Exploring the perception of medical students and lecturers on the consequential validity of medical long case |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring the perception of medical students and lecturers on the consequential validity of medical long case |
| title_short | Exploring the perception of medical students and lecturers on the consequential validity of medical long case |
| title_sort | exploring the perception of medical students and lecturers on the consequential validity of medical long case |
| topic | Long case Assessment Perceptions Consequential validity Education impact of an assessment |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-07055-4 |
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