Redesigning the Learning Assessment Tools for Community-Based Training Program in the Undergraduate Medical Education at a University in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, the undergraduate medical education is a six-year program, which has three major curricular components, including Pre-medical, preclinical and clinical years. Upon successful completion of every year pre-clinical and clinical courses, students are required to complete community-based training program (CBTP) courses that demand a field work in the nearby community settings. The main intent of these courses is to develop general competencies of the graduates so that they become more socially accountable at the same time ensuring opportunities for lifelong learning in the community through training and services. In a general sense, the learning assessment provides an opportunity for students to improve their skills, reduce anxiety over grading, and improve relationships between learners and teachers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the existing learning assessment tools applied in the CBTP courses and improve them so that they become aligned with the expected graduate competencies specified in the undergraduate medicine curriculum in the University studied. This study used a case study design for the in-depth analysis of the learning assessment tools of CBTP courses. Guided by this, first the study comprises an analysis of the existing assessment tools being practiced in a university studied. Then, three FGDs were held with instructors, department heads, and students who participated in CBTP course implementation of the undergraduate medicine program. This was followed by a consultative workshop with relevant experts in Community-based education (CBE), to identify essential items to be included in the redesigned assessment tools. As a result of this study, the study participants identified the learning domains that were aligned to the core competencies. The corresponding guidelines for each assessment methods were developed. The tools were piloted in the field and they were found very comprehensive and feasible for use in the university studied. The findings of this study were suggested that the redesigned assessment tools can address the basic problems of the existing assessment methods, which were found, fragmented and had higher degrees of subjectivity