M. Vijaya Sree
BACKGROUND Assessment of the clinical skills has an important role in the evaluation of students. So, Mini CEX has been formulated to assess the residents within their clinical situations for their improvement. Aim of the Study- To find out the perception of Mini Clinical evaluation Exercise by post graduate students as a learning tool. MATERIALS AND METHODS It was an Observational Study done involving Post Graduate Students in OBG department over a period of 5 Months. Sixteen students were given an exercise on history taking, physical examination and counselling the patient. Observation was done for 15 minutes by using Mini CEX method followed by feedback for 5 minutes. Later a questionnaire was given to them to know their perception regarding Mini CEX. The results were noted and analysed. RESULTS All the 16 students were given patients who are ambulatory. Most of the second-year students were lacking in professionalism and organization, whereas third year students performed better in all the aspects. Mini CEX was satisfactory for 14 residents. For one resident it was just satisfactory, On the other extreme one resident was highly satisfied. Residents views were - asset for university exams for time management (6), useful for rectifying themselves and for future practice (4), excellent method for assessment and improvement (3), wanted multiple exposures from UG course itself (3). CONCLUSION The Mini-CEX has good overall utility for assessing aspects of the clinical encounter in postgraduate setting. Strengths included formative observation and feedback for improvement of the student for a long-term outcome.
