Evaluation of a Curricular Reform at Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine: Influence on Performance of Graduating Students

Abstract:

A new curriculm implemented at the Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine (University of São Paulo, Brasil) was evaluated on the basis of graduating student performance on tests of cognitive, affective and practical psychomotor skills. Over the course of six years, 222 (previous curriculum) and 261 (new curriculum) graduatingstudents were ezamined. All students underwent a tst with multiple choice questions (MCQs) on generel medical knowledge and filled in a scale for atitude assessment. Groups of 18-20 students were randomly assigned to objective, structured clinical examinations (OSCE) for either clinical skills (real and standardized patients) or procedural skills (manequins and anesthetized animals), and to a patient management problem (PMP) test more complex cognitive skills. Results showed that the new curriculum was associated with signicantly higher scores om MCQ tests and improved performance in physomotor skills. However, performance of new curriculum students were worse in many of the PMP steps. There were no significant differebces between the two curricula regarding student performance in clinical skills or in any aspects of attitutde assessmente.

Key-words:
Educational Measurement; Curriculum; Employer Performance Appraisal