Table 1 Individual tasks making up the community placement programmatic portfolio assessment

1.

Evidenced Based Medicine (EBM) Task - (20% of the portfolio mark) The EBM marking criteria had 15 assessable components assigned a score of 1-4 by the marker, with a maximum total score of 60. In a written assignment, students identified a health related question from a patient they had seen in general practice, and then applied an evidence based practice approach in order to provide a patient narrative that answered the patient’s question.

2.

Community Profile Project (CCP) - (20%) The CCP task had 9 assessable components, mostly scored 1-4 (two items were marked out of 2) for a maximum total of 34. A further written assignment where the student needed to explore and identify important sub-groups within a chosen community, describe and understand what the major health issues were, and consider what some of the determinants of health, and additional services might be for such a community.

3.

Primary Care Areas of Priority Cases (PCAPs) - (10%) The PCAP task had 11 assessable components, scored 1-4, for a maximum total of 44. Each student in the cohort presented an interactive one-hour case-based teaching session to a small group of their peers derived from one of eight national health priority areas.

4. and 5.

Two Supervisor Assessments (both an Urban and Rural Assessment) – (10%) each. The Supervisor tasks had 9 assessable components, eight of which were scored 1-4, and one (punctuality) on a scale of 1-3 giving a maximum total of 35 each. The supervisor assessed the students on communication skills history taking, examination skills, clinical reasoning, investigation and management plans, preventative health, professional behaviours.

6.

Written Summative Assessment (MCQ) – (30%) This was a 60-item single best answer written assessment in which the material for the assessment came from the PCAPS. (largely chronic disease management problems) and pre-prepared self directed learning problems (largely acute common primary care problems).