PHILADELPHIA, PA — At the Association of American Medical Colleges’ 2024 Annual Meeting held in Atlanta, NBME unveiled a series of strategic updates aimed at transforming medical assessments. These initiatives underscore a profound commitment to expanding their suite of assessment tools, all while ensuring a steadfast dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
NBME President and CEO, Peter J. Katsufrakis, MD, MBA, articulated the organization’s refreshed mission succinctly, stating, “NBME recently updated its mission, vision, and values to better articulate our role in supporting health care professionals to deliver optimal care for all.” This shift is not merely rhetorical; it reflects a tangible strategy to enhance the evaluation of essential skills and behaviors in healthcare professionals.
Over the past two years, NBME has made significant strides in its assessment portfolio. The introduction of the INSIGHTSSM learner dashboard in 2023 provided students with a comprehensive view of their progress. Building on this, NBME expanded its Customized Assessment Services (CAS) in 2024, integrating practice exams and results from various self-assessment tools. These developments set the stage for a robust, learner-centered approach to medical education.
Looking ahead to 2025, NBME plans to deepen its focus on assessments that support learning and growth. This transition from traditional high-stakes exams to more continuous, feedback-driven evaluations aims to create a more dynamic educational environment. NBME Senior Psychometrician, Thai Ong, PhD, addressed a common misconception, explaining, “One misconception of assessments for learning is that they are developed with less psychometric rigor than assessments of learning. Although the two assessment types are different in their purposes, the ways that we approach development is the same in terms of prioritizing core psychometric principles like validity and reliability.”
To support these innovations, NBME has enlisted the expertise of visiting scholar Anastasiya Lipnevich, PhD, who will contribute to shaping formative assessment and feedback methodologies. Her involvement is viewed as pivotal in crafting standardized guidelines that medical schools can implement.
NBME is equally committed to advancing the measurement of critical skills, such as clinical reasoning and communication. Through collaborations with a Creative Community of medical schools, NBME has made substantial progress in refining clinical reasoning assessments, particularly using Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs). The organization plans to extend these efforts, exploring automated scoring and feedback systems to enhance the scalability and effectiveness of these tools.
The assessment of communication skills remains a priority, bolstered by a decade-long research foundation. Earlier this year, NBME’s acquisition of MedVR Education, an extended reality platform, emphasized its commitment to simulation-based learning, aimed at honing healthcare skills.
A core element of NBME’s future direction is its unwavering dedication to DEI. By revising assessment content to ensure inclusivity and mitigate bias, and through various educational initiatives like scholarships and research grants, NBME aims to promote an equitable environment for all learners. Linda Gadsby, Esq., NBME’s Senior VP, General Counsel, and Chief DEI Officer, echoed this commitment, stating, “We strive to enhance future physicians’ abilities to treat diverse patient populations by advancing assessment practices, supporting learners and contributing to efforts to have a broadly diverse pipeline of students ready to enter medical school.”
These organizational updates signal NBME’s evolutionary path within medical education, committed to empowering healthcare professionals and fostering educational excellence in the service of diverse patient populations.
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