Critical thinking skills related to pre-clinical medical school course examinations

The major purpose of this study was to determine if pre-clinical medical school course examinations reflect critical thinking skills. The entire second year class from a medical school in the southwest made up the population. Student examination results from the first two years as well as scores on the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal were used in this study.;Course examinations in the behavioral sciences, psychiatry, ethics, pathology, introduction to clinical medicine, genetics, endocrinology, and cell biology as well as the MCAT and first year GPA had significant correlations with the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal.;There was a significant difference in mean scores on the two versions of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal. The mean composite score from Form A was significantly higher than the mean score from Form B.;Differences were also found between male and female test scores on some examinations given during the pre-clinical years. Females scored higher on behavioral science whereas males scored higher on tests in anatomy and neurobiology.;In designing examinations for medical students, it is important that faculty include test items requiring critical thinking skills. Much effort has been made in attempting to validate the process utilized by experts in making medical decision. It is possible that a major point has been missed in that it is not as important to discover the best technique for solving clinical problems as it is to accept the fact that there are many different techniques that can be utilized by clinicians in solving medical problems. Educators should learn to respect and accept those distinctions as legitimate methods of applying critical thinking strategies in solving medical problems.;Finally, it is possible for schools that utilize the traditional curriculums to continue to teach those courses by including critical thinking strategies. This can be accomplished without making major changes or adopting a problem-based curriculum.