Peer Assessment Based on Clinical Cases and within a Virtual Environment

Abstract

Introduction: “Medicine is learned by the bedside and not in the classroom,” said William Osler, a prominent Canadian doctor. These words are truth but medical education has been complemented with new techniques and teaching tools offered by Information and Communication Technologies such as work in computers, mobile devices, multimedia, digital applications, games and simulation environments. Teaching strategies include peer work, a practice that is increasingly used in learning, mentoring, and assessment.
Objective: Analyze the practice of peer assessment based on clinical cases in a group of second year students, in a virtual classroom for a medical clinic seminar.
Method: A clinical case-based peer assessment practice was conducted in a group of second-year students, in a virtual classroom for a medical clinic seminar. Three clinical cases were used to select symptoms, signs and risk factors. This practice was intragroup, between teams and between couples (one modality per clinical case). The teacher had an expectant-active role: attentive to the dynamics but could guide the activity and provide feedback if necessary.
Results: A gradual growth in knowledge and confidence in students was detected. In this exercise, the teacher could detect inaccuracies in knowledge, which had not noticed with other traditional forms of evaluation.
Conclusions: In this type of dynamics self-study and confidence are stimulated, especially students with the role of evaluators. The teacher also receives feedback on his role and the learning process.