In late August, Texas Chiropractic College (TCC) hosted "Current Concepts in Clinical Assessment," a landmark two-day conference that focused on methods to educate and assess the clinical skills of chiropractic students and practitioners.
The event proved to be an ideal setting for productive discussion, with attendees deliberating the possibility of collaborative efforts to fortify the future of chiropractic education. Connections were established in which attendees will continue to work independently and collaboratively.
"One of our goals was to provide an environment for collaboration and to increase research potential in chiropractic education," stated Steve Foster, DC, who, along with Alan Adams, DC, envisioned the conference last year. "Based upon attendees' reactions, this conference has already been a success."
Conference speakers and workshop leaders included world-renowned faculty and researchers from health sciences education programs. These multidisciplinary experts provided attendees with a wide variety of useful clinical assessment strategies.
Plenary presentations included: "Historical Evolution of Clinical Performance Assessment Within the Health Professions" by John Littlefield, PhD; "Using Standardized Patients in Health Professions Education: Current Trends" by Karen Szauter, MD; "Threats to Validity of Performance Exams: What Can Go Wrong and How to Fix It" by Steven Downing, PhD; and "Clinical Skills Assessments: External Drivers and Internal Benefits" by Delia Anderson, MS. Workshop presentations included: "Defensible Standard Setting Methods for Performance Exams" by Steven Downing, PhD; "Developing Cases for Objectively Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs)" by Karen Szauter, MD; "Technical and Software Considerations for Assessment Centers" by Balazs Moldovanyi, MS; "Determining Competence to Practice: The Role of Assessment Centers" by Drs. Adams and Foster; and "Creating and Maintaining a Standardized Patient Program: Nuts and Bolts" by Delia Anderson, MS.
Dr. Adams hopes that the conference "highlights the clinical assessment trends in higher education so that we can better incorporate these methods into professional development and training at our chiropractic colleges" and that "future meetings will continue to strengthen the quality of clinical assessment and training in chiropractic education."
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