International Assessment of Medical Students: Should it matter anymore where the school is located?

Abstract

With assessment systems that are adequate, robust, comprehensive, as well as responsive to local and regional needs, should the location of the medical education institution be irrelevant? Adequate assessment is determined by local needs, along with accepted minimum global standards of practice. If an assessment system is robust, it should be able to predict future behavior and performance to some degree. A comprehensive system would include assessment of all relevant competencies. In order to achieve comprehensiveness, new approaches are needed to demonstrate mastery of competencies that is now inferred from medical school and graduate medical education participation. These are likely to require a novel approach to assessment – gathering natural, real world data longitudinally rather than only through point-in-time tests. Increasingly the world of assessment may be able to provide tools and data that offer individualized assurances of competence.