The ASK-SEAT: a competency-based assessment scale for students majoring in clinical medicine

To validate a competency-based assessment scale for students majoring in clinical medicine, ASK-SEAT. Students' competency growth across grade years was also examined for trends and gaps. Questionnaires were distributed online from May through August in 2018 to Year-2 to Year-6 students who majored in clinical medicine at the Shantou University Medical College (China). Cronbach alpha values were calculated for reliability of the scale, and exploratory factor analysis employed for structural validity. Predictive validity was explored by correlating Year-4 students' self-assessed competency ratings with their licensing examination scores (based on Kendall's tau-b values). All students' competency development over time was examined using the Mann-Whitney U test. A total of 760 questionnaires meeting the inclusion criteria were analyzed. The overall Cronbach's alpha value was 0.964, and the item-total correlations were all greater than 0.520. The overall KMO measure was 0.966 and the KMO measure for each item was greater than 0.930 (P