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Questions, Test Assembling, Quality Control

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Test Assembling and Blueprint

Tests are assembled according to a standard procedure based on a two-dimensional blueprint where the number of questions per organ system is fixed, while the number of questions per subject is chosen within a predetermined interval.

     

Blueprint - Organ systems

Organ system

Question count

        

Cardiovascular System

22

       

Respiratory Organs

22

       

Mind, Social Issues

20

       

Digestive System

18

       

Nervous System, Brain, Senses

16

       

Musculoskeletal System

15

       

Hormones, Metabolism

13

       

Blood, Lymph, Immune System

13

       

Kidney, Urinary Tract

13

       

Reproductive Organs

11

       

Cell

11

       

General Pathology

10

       

Skin

9

       

Methodology, Instruments

7

       

Blueprint - Subjets

Subject

Lower Limit

Upper Limit

       

Internal Medicine

12

37

       

General Practice

10

30

       

Anatomy, Biology

5

14

       

Surgery

5

14

       

Gynecology and Obstetrics

5

16

       

Pathology

5

14

       

Physiology, Physics

5

14

       

Biochemistry, Chemistry, Molecular Biology

4

12

       

Epidemiology, Medical Biometry

4

12

       

Human Genetics 

4

11

       

Paediatrics

4

13

       

Neurology

4

11

       

Pharmacology, Toxicology

4

12

       

Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine

4

11

       

Anesthesiology, Emergency Medicine and Intensive Care

3

9

 

      

Occupational and Social Medicine, Healthcare

3

8

 

      

Med. Psychology/Sociology

3

8

 

      

Ophthalmology 

2

6

       

Dermatology 

2

7

 

      

Otorhinolaryngology

2

6

 

      

Hygiene, Microbiology

2

7

 

      

Orthopedics

2

5

 

      

Legal Medicine

2

5

 

      

Urology

2

6

 

      

Naturopathy, Physical Medicine

1

4

 

      

Radiology, Nuclear Medicine

1

4

 

      

Clinical Chemistry, Clinical Pathology

0

2

 

      

Question Writing

The questions are written by subject experts. Authors also assign a subject and an organ system.

The questions are subsequently reviewed for content and presentation.

Additional Assignments

The AG PTM also classifies questions according to the domain to which they belong and the level of competence they are meant to measure:

Domain

  • Diagnostics 
  • Diagnosis
  • Therapy
  • Medical-scientific skills
  • Pathogenesis, pathomechanisms
  • Structure and function
  • Emergency recognition, emergency measures
  • Ethics, history, law
  • Health promotion, prevention

Level of competence (intended):

  • Apply
  • Recall

Quality Control

Formal quality assurance after the questions have been created:

The following formal assessment is conducted by the AG PTM after the questions have been submitted by authors:

  • Is the question focused? I.e., might the wording of the question lead participants to choose the right option even without the necessary knowledge of the relevant subject?
  • Are the answers homogeneous?
  • Is the question asked positively? Exceptions can be made for questions related to medical contraindications, among other examples.
  • Is the question "countable"?

 

Quality control of the questions before each examination:

All questions are assessed by medical doctors for current validity and relevance before each test.

 

Statistical key measurements after each examination:

After each test, the degree of difficulty and the statistical power of each question are determined; questions showing unusual values for any of these two parameters are set aside for an additional review.