Formative assessment and documentation of history taking in pediatrics: a comparative study

Abstract

Background: Medical educators have valid concerns over the deteriorating documentation skills of medical students after obtaining a pediatric history. Formative assessment enhances learning by providing feedback to the learners. Though formative assessments are popular in medical education, data to establish their educational benefits are lacking. This study was conducted to assess the areas of concern in pediatric history taking and to determine the effect of formative assessment on documentation skills.Methods: This comparative study involved 80 MBBS students of eighth semester during pediatric clinical postings of one-month duration. At the end of first session, students interviewed a standardized patient and documented the history in a case record. Marks were awarded based on the check list. Feedback was imparted based on the case record. Students’ perception was collected through the questionnaire. The same teaching learning methodology was carried out in the second session. Data obtained from the questionnaire and marks scored was analysed.Results: Documentation of growth and development (1.89 + 0.59), immunization history (2.01 + 0.53) were the concern areas identified in our study. Among 80 students, the low achievers in the first and second session was 66 and 13 respectively. The perception of students about their repertoire of interviewing skills was statistically significant (p <0.05). Formative evaluation had a statistically significant effect on the knowledge and performance of students, particularly low achievers (p <0.05).Conclusions: Formative assessment process identified the areas of concern in pediatric history taking and enhanced the documentation skills following immediate feedback. It had a beneficial effect on the students’ confidence, enthusiasm, learning and performance.