The OME offers guidance in the development of formative and summative student assessment tools including OSCEs, online quizzes, self-assessment modules and exams. We provide consultation in preparing OSCE cases, and training standardized patients and faculty preceptors.

The OME has created, and is further developing, an extensive exam generator and database currently utilized by the Mechanisms of Disease Modules. The database houses multiple-choice questions, associated images and case studies, and item analysis data. The generator produces paper exams of specified length and topic distribution as designated by the user, and can even approximate the difficulty of the exam. OME provides training in the construction of questions that adhere to the USMLE multiple-choice format.

Writing Better Questions
The NBME’s exam writing manual, Constructing Written Test Questions For the Basic and Clinical Sciences, can be reviewed from it’s web site. This manual was written to help faculty members improve the quality of the multiple-choice questions written for their examinations.

Improved Student Assessment
The OME, in conjunction with SoMIT and the Clerkship Directors, designed and produced an online tool, StudEval, for the assessment of student performance in clinical clerkships. Students are evaluated by their supervising attendings and residents based on knowledge, clinical skills and professionalism. The evaluation includes free text boxes for comments on strengths and areas for improvement. Clerkship Directors then incorporate the information with other measures of student performance in determining student clerkship grades.

View Clinical Clerkship Student Evaluation

Faculty Instructions for Logging into Stud Eval

Clerkship Grading Schemes

Stanford University School of Medicine Clerkship Evaluation Tutorial