Validity, Reliability and Feasibility of the Observed Long Case Examination as a part of National License Examination for medical undergraduates in Thailand.

Abstract

Since 2007, the observed long case examination has been included in the National License Examination in Thailand. Despite its good face validity and uniqueness in ability to assess the candidate’s clinical performance, the long case examination, according to previous literatures, has poor reliability when compared with the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Strategies that may improve reliability of long case examination include increasing the number of cases and examiners in each examination and increasing the number of cases but has to be weighed against lowering the feasibility. In summary, for high stake examination, it is reasonable to use the observed long case examination in conjunction with other examination methods such as OSCE to evaluate clinical competency of a candidate.

Keywords: Observed long case, national license examination