Introduction of mini‐clinical evaluation exercise in teaching dental radiology—A pilot study
Anna Bock, Florian Peters, Dirk Elvers, Julian Wittenborn, Kristian Kniha, Marcus Gerressen, Frank Hölzle, Ali Modabber
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Workplace-based assessments are methods that can be applied for assessing competence and performance. One of these methods is the mini-clinical evaluation exercise (mini-CEX). This study was conducted to determine the role of mini-CEX in students' performance assessment on panoramic X-ray reporting at dental radiology course. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A workshop as training for the assessors and the participants was conducted before the primary test. All participants (n = 36) were randomly allocated into six groups. Each group had three seminars in which every student reported a panoramic X-ray. Students were directly observed and rated by an assessor on a modified mini-CEX rating form. Then, a self-assessment of the students and a systematic feedback session were performed. Finally, the students and the assessors were evaluated for the acceptability and satisfaction with this tool. RESULTS: The mean duration of the assessment and the feedback decreased significantly from the first seminar to the third seminar (P < .0001). Comparison of the results of the mini-CEX of all three assessments showed that students displayed a significantly better performance in evaluating the upper jaw and the soft tissue (P < .05). There was no significant improvement for the other aspects of the rating form. Overall, both students and assessors reported a high level of satisfaction in using the mini-CEX rating form. CONCLUSION: Due to the objectivity and transparency of the assessment, the mini-CEX helped to improve the performance on reporting panoramic X-rays. Besides that, the structured feedback had major impact on the improvement. Overall, the assessors and the participants reported a high level of satisfaction using the rating form. Therefore, the mini-CEX may be an effective method for performing workplace-based assessments to evaluate students' performance on reporting panoramic X-rays.