Understanding Clinical Competence: Understanding Student Assessment

The extent, purpose, and model of performance assessment should be guided by our understanding of clinical competence. We have come a long way from believing that competence is generic, fixed, and transferable across contents; to viewing competence as dynamic, incremental, contextual, and non-transferable. However, our pattern of assessment largely remains what it was many years ago. Contemporary educationists view competency assessment as different from traditional format. They place more emphasis on the role of expert subjective judgment, especially for performance and domain-independent competencies. Such assessments have conclusively shown their validity, reliability, and utility. They; however, require trained assessors, trust between the teachers and the taught, and above all, a political and administrative will for implementation.