Progress Test in Medical School: a Systematic Review of the Literature

Abstract:

Progress Test is an objective assessment, consisting of 60 to 150 multiple-choice questions, designed to promote an assessment of the cognitive skills expected at the end of undergraduate school. This test is applied to all students on the same day, so that it is possible to compare the results between grades and analyze the development of knowledge performance throughout the course. This study aimed to carry out a systematic and literary review about Progress Test in medical schools in Brazil and around the world, understanding the benefits of its implementation for the development of learning for the student, the teacher and the institution. The study was carried out from July 2018 to April 2019, which addressed articles published from January 2002 to March 2019. The keywords used were: “Progress Test in Medical Schools” and “Item Response Theory in Medicine” in the PubMed, Scielo, and Lilacs platforms. There was no language limitation in article selection, but the research was carried out in English. A total of 192,026 articles were identified, and after applying advanced search filters, 11 articles were included in the study. The Progress Test (PTMed) has been applied in medical schools, either alone or in groups of partner schools, since the late 1990s. The test results build the students’ performance curves, which allow us to identify weaknesses and strengths of the students in the several areas of knowledge related to the course. The Progress Test is not an exclusive instrument for assessing student performance, but it is also important as an assessment tool for academic management use and thus, it is crucial that institutions take an active role in the preparation and analysis of this assessment data. Assessments designed to test clinical competence in medical students need to be valid and reliable. For the evaluative method to be valid it is necessary that the subject be extensively reviewed and studied, aiming at improvements and adjustments in test performance.

Key-words:
Progress Test; Statistics; Medical Education; Educational Evaluation