Objective: To evaluate medical students' views about undertaking structured long interview and clinical examination as a formative assessment.
Methods: The qualitative, exploratory study was conducted from February to July 2019 at the Islamic International Medical College, Riphah International University, Islamabad, Pakistan, and comprised final year medical students having undertaken formative assessment through structured long interview and clinical examination during their clerkship rotation in Paediatrics, General Medicine, General Surgery and Gynaecology and Obstetrics. Four sets of focus group discussions were conducted according to the relevant clerkship module. Each recorded FGD was transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was conducted manually.
Results: Of the 32 students, there were 8(25%) in each of the four groups. Five major themes and five-sub-themes emerged, with the main themes being: Purpose, Learning, Timing, Relevancy and Fairness of the structured long interview and clinical examination.
Conclusions: The students generally thought that the structured long interview and clinical examination was effective in enhancing their clinical skills learning and should be conducted more frequently with minor adjustments.
Keywords: Medical students, Opinions, Professional competence Assessment, Views..