The evaluation of clinical competence

During a workshop on the evaluation of clinical competence, the participants identified the process skills that comprise clinical competence and examined the techniques available for evaluating these skills. No single technique allows satisfactory evaluation of all the process skills; the most commonly used methods (chart review and case presentation) evaluate few process skills. An adequate performance profile in all the process skills requires a combination of evaluation techniques. Medical evaluators should strive to define clinical competence in measurable terms, based on the clinical skills to be mastered and the spectrum of clinical situations to be managed.