Assessment and evaluation in medical education : open forum

Previous discussion has focused upon the educational process, specifically, the basis for "good" medical education, the methods of learning and teaching used and the relationship between undergraduate, postgraduate and life-long learning; continuing professional development. All these would appear to be, in the first instance, linear processes, with a beginning that commences with a specific teaching and learning activity and an end, often an end-point examination, hopefully testing how much we remember, apply and use. As part of any educational programme, assessment and evaluation feature frequently. The purpose of this article is to not only equip the reader with an understanding of the terminology used in assessment and evaluation, but to demonstrate that, as for many other aspects of medical education, the processes of assessment and evaluation bring cyclical and dynamic actions which can be used and built upon to improve the efficiency of the training model and even oneself.