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Context and background: The selection process of students at the outset of medical studies represents a strong societal issue because it determines the profile of students who study medicine and, consequently, it influences the profile of future medical practitioners. Up to now, there is no consensus regarding best selection methods. Indeed, competitive examinations at the beginning of medical studies are organized worldwide in many ways. Analysis: The present contribution takes an inventory of the various procedures and tools implemented for the purpose of selecting future students in the domain of health and reviews them critically. We shall also use the literature dealing with the concept of validity in order to question the quality of existing procedures and tools as well as the quality of related studies. Conclusion: There is little evidence to support the quality of any of the selection instruments, either because they are actually of low quality, or because the studies that justify their quality do not take into account a modern vision of validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The assessment of students is the responsibility of teachers. Yet, teachers often feel insufficiently equipped to implement confidently assessment processes. Objective: This article aims to enable teachers to deepen their understanding in the field of students' assessment. Analysis: We present an overview of the four approaches adopted in the field of students' assessment for the last several years. We first illustrate the measurement approach, secondly the dual-function, formative and summative, approach, thirdly an approach that maintains the summative function but adds a specification to the formative function and finally, a very recent approach that closely intertwines formative and summative assessment. This section of the article sets out the conceptual framework that will enable the reader to better situate the three assessment processes subsequently described. Examples created from the professional framework pertaining to occupational therapy or medicine serve to illustrate the implementation of the first two processes presented. Finally, because the assessment of students' learning is based on principles aiming to limit the subjectivity in the assessment of student learning, the last section of the article focuses on presenting these principles intrinsically linked to any assessment process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the validity of written case summaries as assessments of clinical problem representation in medical education. Topics covered include evaluation of a novel type of questions to assess clinical reasoning, analysis of students' ability to gather, synthesize and translate pertinent case information and educational implications of this type of assessment.