MULTIMEDIA EXAM - A NEW ASSESSMENT METHOD IN MEDICAL EDUCATION

This study aims to understand if the use of a new assessment method in medical instruction fulfils and meets the initial expectations of the students of an Otorhinolaryngology course of the Integrated Master's Program in Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon. A multimedia-format exam was implemented as an assessment method since 2014/15, and it was necessary to analyse the benefits and disadvantages of its characteristics. That's why, this study aims not only to analyse the degree of student satisfaction, but also to identify the advantages and disadvantages of this assessment method, when compared to others, such as paper-and pencil Multiple-Choice Tests, Oral Examination with the presence of patients, and Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). The results of the 593 responses given by the students who attended this course, in the last 3 years, indicated that 50% are satisfied with the new assessment model, and from those, 11.6% are very satisfied. With this study, we also learned that the degree of satisfaction was more strongly correlated with the design of the exam items, namely the presentation of videos and images, and the opportunity of strengthening the knowledge about the course subjects. The content analysis performed to the responses to the open questions also revealed that the most positive aspect identified in this type of exam was the promotion of the connection between the theoretical and practical contents of the course. However, students pointed out, as an improvement to be made, to have immediate access to corrective feedback after the exam is finished. This study aims to provide a deeper knowledge about students' acceptance of different assessment methods and its usefulness for the pedagogical practice in medical instruction.