Oral examinations-equal opportunities, ethnicity, and fairness in the MRCGP
Oral examinations-equal opportunities, ethnicity, and fairness in the MRCGP
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DOI：
10.1136/bmj.320.7231.370
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发表时间：
2000-02-05
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Wass, V
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Roberts, C;Sarangi, S;Wass, V
口试被广泛用于本科生和研究生的医学考试，包括皇家学院的成员资格考试。近年来，口试的有效性和可靠性受到质疑，许多评估方案都取消了口试。1-4皇家全科医师学院有反思这些问题的传统，并通过仔细选择和培训考官，使用考试蓝图，制定明确的问题和评分标准，以及继续讨论技术和问题，改进了其成员考试。5.然而，关于机会平等和考试可能产生歧视性结果的辩论仍在继续，因为不及格的考生及其同事认为，他们不及格可能是由于种族歧视。1995年的一项研究表明，尽管英籍亚裔的成功率毋庸置疑，但在国外接受培训的亚裔医生的表现不如其他群体。6他们笔试不及格的可能性相对较大，这意味着他们没有被要求参加口试。但即使是在那些被要求参加口试的人中，在海外接受过培训的少数民族考生的表现也不太好。考试委员会对公平的承诺导致根据这些调查结果对考试程序进行进一步审查，人们仍然担心某些群体的分数相对较低。这促使委员会考虑口试是否可能以隐藏和微妙的方式成为一个促成因素，以及对口试中语言使用的研究是否可以说明可能存在的间接歧视。在心理测量测试方面，“辨别能力”是指区分及格和不及格、优秀和不太好的候选人的能力。然而，在本文和平等机会的背景下，我们使用“歧视”一词来指可能对某些社会群体产生不公平影响的制度、程序和判决的结果。皇家全科医师学院考试委员会希望积极评估其口头程序和做法，以确定是否有任何理由认为考试可能具有间接歧视性，即间接歧视性。
Oral examinations are widely used in undergraduate and postgraduate medical examinations, including those for membership of royal colleges. In recent years the validity and reliability of oral examinations have been questioned and they have been dropped from many assessment programmes. 1–4 The Royal College of General Practitioners has a tradition of reflecting on these issues and has improved its membership examination through the careful selection and training of examiners, the use of an examination blueprint, the development of clear questions and criteria for marking, and continuing discussion of techniques and problems. 5 None the less, the debate about equal opportunities and the possible discriminatory outcomes of the examination has continued as failed candidates and their colleagues have suggested that their lack of success might be due to racial discrimination. A study in 1995 showed that although the success rate among British Asians was not in question, Asian doctors trained abroad did less well than other groups. 6 They were relatively more likely to fail the written examination, which meant that they were not called for the oral examination. But even among those called for the oral examination, ethnic minority candidates trained overseas did proportionately less well. The examination board’s commitment to fairness led to further scrutiny of the examination procedures in the light of these findings, and there was still concern that some groups were receiving relatively low grades. This led the board to consider whether the oral examination might, in hidden and subtle ways, be a contributing factor, and if a study of the use of language in the oral examinations would illuminate possible indirect discrimination.In terms of psychometric testing,“discriminatory ability” refers to the ability to distinguish between pass and fail, good and less good candidates. However, in the context of this paper and of equal opportunities, we use the term “discrimination” to mean the outcomes of systems, procedures, and judgments that may have an unfair impact on some social groups. The examination board of the Royal College of General Practitioners wished to evaluate proactively its oral procedures and practices to establish whether there were any grounds for believing that the examination could be indirectly discriminatory, in this latter sense of the term.