The St. George’s University (SGU) Clinical Evaluation is a significant checkpoint in the medical program, designed to measure a student’s readiness for independent clinical practice. This high-stakes assessment formally measures core competencies, ensuring students have integrated foundational medical knowledge with practical patient care skills. Its purpose is to confirm the professional and clinical abilities expected of a physician before advancing to residency training.
Effective Preparation Strategies
Effective preparation for this comprehensive evaluation should begin well in advance, focusing on consistent, repeated practice of physical exam maneuvers and history-taking skills. Students must utilize official SGU resources, such as checklists and recorded lectures provided through the learning management system, to understand the specific components that will be scored. These materials outline the exact data points and steps that must be demonstrated during a patient encounter.
Forming dedicated study groups is an invaluable strategy for simulating the evaluation environment and receiving immediate, constructive feedback from peers. Students should practice time management, strictly adhering to the typical 12-to-15-minute time limits for a complete standardized patient encounter. This repeated, timed practice helps internalize the flow of a consultation, ensuring that all necessary steps, from initial rapport to counseling, are completed efficiently.
Preparation must include mental conditioning to manage the high-pressure atmosphere. Rehearsing common clinical scenarios helps reduce performance anxiety by improving automaticity in history taking and physical examination sequences. Focusing on the patient interaction and maintaining professionalism allows for a smoother, more natural performance on the evaluation day. Practice explaining complex medical concepts simply and clearly to a layperson, as communication is a primary assessment domain.
Structure of the Evaluation Day
The logistics of the evaluation day follow a highly structured, standardized format designed to ensure fairness and consistency across all student performances. Students are required to arrive at the assessment center early for a mandatory check-in procedure, confirming their identity using official university documentation. Professional clinical attire, such as a white coat over appropriate business clothing, is mandatory to reflect the expected level of professionalism.
The evaluation typically utilizes a station-based format, resembling an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), where students rotate through a series of individual patient encounters. Each station is timed, often allowing approximately two minutes for reading the case prompt outside the room and a fixed duration, such as 12 to 15 minutes, for the actual interaction. A bell or buzzer signals the start and end of the encounter, as well as the transition time to the next station.
Inside each room, the student interacts with a Standardized Patient (SP)—an actor trained to portray a specific medical case consistently—or a faculty examiner. Standardized Patients provide a realistic patient experience and are often involved in evaluating the student’s communication and interpersonal skills. Faculty examiners may observe specific technical skills or evaluate the student’s final oral presentation or written documentation.
How Performance Is Assessed
Performance is evaluated across three broad, interconnected domains: Knowledge, Clinical Skills, and Professional Behavior. The assessment of medical knowledge involves demonstrating the ability to gather relevant data, formulate a differential diagnosis, and propose an appropriate management plan for the presented case. This is scored using a detailed checklist that quantifies the number of history questions asked and physical exam maneuvers performed correctly.
Clinical skills are assessed through direct observation of practical techniques, clinical reasoning, and effective communication with the patient. Communication skills are judged based on factors like establishing patient rapport, demonstrating empathy, providing clear explanations of the diagnosis and plan, and checking for patient understanding. These elements include a blend of objective checklist scoring and subjective judgment from the Standardized Patient or observing faculty.
Professionalism is a continuous assessment throughout the evaluation, encompassing the student’s demeanor, attire, respect for patient boundaries, and overall ethical conduct. Students are required to complete a written patient note or documentation immediately following the encounter, which is assessed for clarity, accuracy, and completeness of the medical record. While many elements are scored objectively via checklists, the final determination of competency incorporates narrative comments and subjective ratings regarding attitude and interpersonal skills.
Policies for Remediation
Students who do not achieve a passing score in the evaluation are subject to a formal remediation process, which is initiated promptly following the notification of the failure. Students who fail only the Knowledge Component of a clerkship evaluation receive an “I” (Incomplete) grade and are given an opportunity to remediate the knowledge deficiency. This remediation involves a mandatory period of review and a re-examination in the failed component.
Failure of the Clinical Skills Component or the Professional Behavior Component results in an “I” grade, requiring the student to remediate these deficiencies during a subsequent clinical rotation. The student works with an academic advisor to develop an Individualized Learning Plan (ILP) and must demonstrate a “Pass” in the failed component during the remediation clerkship. Students who fail two or more components receive a failing grade for the entire rotation and must repeat the entire clerkship. Academic policies limit the number of failing grades permitted during the clinical studies phase.