Comparison of intraining evaluation with tests of clinical ability in medical students

Seventy-two medical students were studied regarding the predictive value of a number of evaluation procedures as they rotated through the Department of Medicine during their four-year undergraduate medical program at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Scores obtained in two subjective evaluation procedures--one compiled at the completion of the second-year clinical skills course and the other at the end of the fourth-year clerkship--were compared with each other and with scores obtained on an objective structured clinical examination, two multiple-choice examinations, and two oral examinations. Even in this fairly homogeneous group of teachers and students, correlation between the different evaluation procedures was absent or slight.