Videotaped case histories in the final MB (Psychiatry) examination at St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College

Abstract

In June 1979 videotape was used at St Bartholomew's Hospital as a means of presenting ‘short case’ patients for the final clinical MB examination (psychiatry). It seemed appropriate in such a new venture that the quality and suitability of this material should come under scrutiny and that the usefulness of this technique for final examinations and its potential applicability to other examinations be evaluated. It was thought that this preliminary study could yield information which would be helpful to both examiners and examinees in their preparation for future examinations and which might lead to future extensions and refinements of the examination. Even though the number of students interviewed was quite small for a study of this nature, this was heavily outweighed by the salience of the issues raised.