First End of Rotation Exam Faculty Preview a Resounding Success
Nearly 50 faculty members had the opportunity to take a test run as they participated in PAEA’s first-ever End of RotationTM Exam Faculty Preview, held during this year’s Forum in Minneapolis. Two testing sessions were offered back-to-back with every seat filled and Assessment Council members serving as model proctors.
The experience began the week before when pre-registrants were sent a reminder email that modeled the notice students receive when they register for an exam. It included instructions for attendance, confirmation of time and date, and which exam they would take.
The Scene
On exam day, the conference room was set up like a typical testing center, with participants in cubicles using PAEA-provided computers and white boards — just like students would. Before jumping into the exam, participants heard a brief presentation that included introductory material that proctors might want to give before an exam, such as exam policy and test-taking procedures.
Participants then took half of a real, but recently retired, Internal Medicine End of Rotation exam in the ExamDriver testing platform. Proctors patrolled the room to ensure exam security and academic integrity, while monitoring the ExamDriver proctor screen for alerts.
Faculty Feedback
Faculty members reported that the experience gave them key information and best practices about proctoring, as well as more about the exam itself. “Seeing the questions helped me understand what my students are seeing on End of Rotation exams and assured me that it is a good assessment of what I expect them to know at the end of their Internal Medicine rotations,” said Daytheon Sturges, MPAS, PA-C, an assistant professor and clinical coordinator at UT Southwestern School of Health Professions, which uses the End of Rotation exams.
A prospective user, Dawn LaBarbera, PhD, PA-C, professor and program director at Trine University, which is currently developing a PA program, noted, “I like that there is reliability and validity behind these exams. It was great to see them before we made the decision to purchase.”
To the relief of most participants — and the dismay of some overachievers — scores were not provided. The purpose of this preview was to show real exam questions without skewing the experience of active exam administrations, including national statistics. However, we were able to provide participants with model score reports that show what the students receive after their exams have been scored.
Next Steps
Video from this session, including model proctoring and screen shots of the proctor screen, will be used to produce new training resources. These materials will include:
- sample presentations to classes,
- instructions on how to start a session, and
- proctoring best practices.
Stay tuned for more information as we put those materials together.
We plan to host more of these sessions at future Education Forums and look forward to additional feedback from participants past and future.
If you have questions about this or any other PAEA exam offering, please contact Emily Yunker at eyunker@PAEAonline.org or 703-667-4332.
