An Objective Evaluation of Clinical Competence

APPROXIMATELY five years ago the National Board of Medical Examiners undertook to study and, if possible, to devise new means of evaluating the complex and subtle aspects of clinical competence that traditional testing methods barely touch. Examinations in the preclinical sciences (as in Part I of the National Board examinations) and in the clinical sciences (Part II) had been well established as highly reliable tests of medical knowledge and a candidate's ability to apply his knowledge to the problem in hand.1 , 2 Could methods be developed to evaluate with equal validity and reliability such essential components of medical competence as skill . . .