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In a nutshell:
- The PTM consists of 200 questions in multiple-choice format
- The test is administered once a semester.
- All students, regardless of their advancement in the curriculum, work on identical tests.
- Each test contains items stemming from all subjects of medicine.
- The difficulty level is supposed to correspond to that of a graduation exam.
- Test items are written by teachers of the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the University Witten/Herdecke and the Medical University Innsbruck.
- The Progress Test offers a regular and detailed feedback of the personal knowledge in relation to a comparison group to participants .
What function does a progress test have in the study of medicine?
Detailed feedback is very important to students. It allows for individual self-assessment and therefore more purposeful studying. All participants receive a detailed analysis of their performance compared to their previous results and the average of their comparison group (cohort). Performance outcome is broken down according to organ systems and medical subjects. The Progress Test Medizin is a formative tool of assesment. Failure is not possible, the result has no consequences except for those, which each participant draws for him-/ herself.
Self-Study, Prior Experiences, Medical Traineeships,…
are valuable resources that are indispensable for the development of knowledge within anyone's studies. Progress Tests show this kind of success as well and give them greater significance. Continuous and interdisciplinary studying is the only preparation for this test - not rummaging in old exams or quick cramming of facts for the short-term memory.
Single tests tend to control the study behaviour of students too much, so that no room for independent studying is left.
Postgraduate Medical Training
Progress tests are not only applicable for the undergraduate training of physicians. For the first time in 2005, for example, the Charité Department of Dermatology conducted a progress test for their assistant doctors. This particular progress test is held annually and is supposed to accompany the assistant doctors on their way to becoming specialists. PTM and the assessment department help the dermatology faculty to ensure the quality of the test regarding questions, design, analysis and evaluation.