The Impact of Curriculum Design in the Acquisition of Knowledge of Oncology: Comparison Among Four Medical Schools

Over the past 5years, cancer has replaced coronary heart disease as the leading cause of death in the Netherlands. It is thus paramount that medical doctors acquire a knowledge of cancer, since most of them will face many patients with cancer. Studies, however, have indicated that there is a deficit in knowledge of oncology among medical students, which may be due not only to the content but also to the structure of the curriculum. In this study, we compared students' knowledge acquisition in four different undergraduate medical programs. Further, we investigated possible factors that might influence students' knowledge growth as related to oncology. The participants comprised 1440 medical students distributed over four universities in the Netherlands. To measure students' knowledge of oncology, we used their progress test results from 2007 to 2013. The progress test consists of 200 multiple-choice questions; this test is taken simultaneously four times a year by all students. All questions regarding oncology were selected. We first compared the growth of knowledge of oncology using mixed models. Then, we interviewed the oncology coordinator of each university to arrive at a better insight of each curriculum. Two schools showed similar patterns of knowledge growth, with a slight decrease in the growth rate for one of them in year 6. The third school had a faster initial growth with a faster decrease over time compared to other medical schools. The fourth school showed a steep decrease in knowledge growth during years 5 and 6. The interviews showed that the two higher-scoring schools had a more focused semester on oncology, whereas in the others, oncology was scattered throughout the curriculum. Furthermore, the absence of a pre-internship training program seemed to hinder knowledge growth in one school. Our findings suggest that curricula have an influence on students' knowledge acquisition. A focused semester on oncology and a pre-internship preparatory training program are likely to have a positive impact on students' progress in terms of knowledge of oncology

Stoma-free survival after anastomotic leak following rectal cancer resection : worldwide cohort of 2470 patients

Funding Information: The TENTACLE-Rectum study was funded by Medtronic External Research Program. The authors declare no other conflict of interest.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Comparison of the level of cognitive processing between case-based items and non-case-based items on the Interuniversity Progress Test of Medicine in the Netherlands

In this study, we analysed questions from the Dutch Interuniversity Progress Test of Medicine from 2007 to 2013. The progress test is a systematic, longitudinal assessment that aims to measure students’ knowledge at the level that they are expected to achieve by the end of their program, and the questions are based on the Dutch National Blueprint for the Medical Curriculum. The progress test is simultaneously administered 4 times a year to all undergraduate medical students, from the first to the sixth year. At the time of the study, 4 of the 8 medical schools in the Netherlands participated in the progress test. Each progress test consisted of 200 questions, which resulted in a total of 4800 questions. This progress test is particularly suitable because each test contains 200 unique questions developed by a large and diverse group of instructors at different medical schools, it is independent of any curriculum, and it contains both case-based questions and non-case-based questions

Investigating possible causes of bias in a progress test translation: an one-edged sword

PURPOSE: Assessment in different languages should measure the same construct. However, item characteristics, such as item flaws and content, may favor one test-taker group over another. This is known as item bias. Although some studies have focused on item bias, little is known about item bias and its association with items characteristics. Therefore, this study investigated the association between item characteristics and bias. METHODS: The University of Groningen offers both an international and a national bachelor's program in medicine. Students in both programs take the same progress test, but the international progress test is literally translated into English from the Dutch version. Differential item functioning was calculated to analyze item bias in four subsequent progress tests. Items were also classified by their categories, number of alternatives, item flaw, item length, and whether it was a case-based question. RESULTS: The proportion of items with bias ranged from 34% to 36% for the various tests. The number of items and the size of their bias was very similar in both programmes. We have identified that the more complex items with more alternatives favored the national students, whereas shorter items and fewer alternatives favored the international students. CONCLUSION: Although nearly 35% of all items contain bias, the distribution and the size of the bias were similar for both groups. The findings of this paper may be used to improve the writing process of the items, by avoiding some characteristics that may benefit one group whilst being a disadvantage for others

Comparison of the level of cognitive processing between case-based items and non-case-based items on the Interuniversity Progress Test of Medicine in the Netherlands

In this study, we analysed questions from the Dutch Interuniversity Progress Test of Medicine from 2007 to 2013. The progress test is a systematic, longitudinal assessment that aims to measure students’ knowledge at the level that they are expected to achieve by the end of their program, and the questions are based on the Dutch National Blueprint for the Medical Curriculum. The progress test is simultaneously administered 4 times a year to all undergraduate medical students, from the first to the sixth year. At the time of the study, 4 of the 8 medical schools in the Netherlands participated in the progress test. Each progress test consisted of 200 questions, which resulted in a total of 4800 questions. This progress test is particularly suitable because each test contains 200 unique questions developed by a large and diverse group of instructors at different medical schools, it is independent of any curriculum, and it contains both case-based questions and non-case-based questions