THE 2004 EBU IN-SERVICE ASSESSMENT

Self-assessment as a teaching modality

Saturday, 6 March 2004

The EBU Examination Committee will again organise the EBU In-Service Assessment in 2004. The last test was organised in March 2003 with local support from the programme directors of residency training programmes in urology. A total of 700 candidates from more than 100 institutes from Europe and beyond participated in the 2003 assessment. If you are interested in the division of the candidates per country and per year of training, please visit our Website: WWW.EBU.COM.

The 2004 EBU In-Service Examination is organised on Saturday, 06 March

Introduction

Self assessment and regular testing of ability and knowledge have long been known to be very powerful teaching modalities. The European Board of Urology is offering an annual 'In-Service Examination/Assessment in Urology' to all trainees in urology. This will not only enable you to determine your own level of knowledge but also to compare it with trainees at the same level of training in other residency training programmes in urology all over Europe. The assessment is organised in the training institutes that apply for participation in the assessment. Through this assessment programme directors (and thus his/her residents) will be able to spot 'weak' areas in their residents' knowledge in different fields of urology and stimulate them with additional reading and study.

Accredited urologists are also invited to participate to test their current abilities and knowledge. These results are compared to those of their own peer group (nationally and internationally).

Objectives:

The main objectives of the In-Service Examination/Assessment are:

- to enable trainees in urology to gain experience in this type of examination (Multiple Choice Questions) and prepare them for the written part of the EBU Examination in Urology;

- to give each participant a detailed statistical analysis of his/her performance: the main topics of urology are analysed independently and scores are compared with the mean score of each topic of the trainees at the same level of training, both nationally and internationally;

- to provide the candidate with clear information on the progress of his/her training when yearly participating;

- to provide an educational tool to the programme director; through the analysis those areas of knowledge in which trainees need additional training and support are made visible;

- to stimulate candidates to work on their 'weak' spots; in this respect this assessment may be of great educational value.

Who can participate?

The examination/assessment is primarily organised for residents in urology in each year of training throughout Europe and beyond. Qualified urologists may also participate to test their knowledge.

As each trainee is identified by experience (duration of training in urology) a comparison with other trainees who have been in training for the same period can be made. Qualified urologists are allocated to a separate peer group.

The EBU In-Service Assessment is offered in the English language only. The examination consists of 100 multiple choice questions covering all fields of urology. Each question has four alternatives of which only one is the correct or best answer. During the examination no books or other sources of information are allowed (closed book examination). The duration of the examination is 2 hours.

The In-Service Assessment is organised in such a way that individual trainees can participate in their own training institute. It is organised on Saturday, 6 March 2004: all participants sit the examination at the same time. Sets of questions are mailed to the programme directors in advance as well as detailed guidelines. Programme directors are also responsible for a proper proceeding: supervision and the collection of answer sheets and sets of questions, after the assessment. The answer sheets need to be returned to the EBU Office in Rotterdam within 2 days after the test, where the statistical analysis is performed.

Individual scores on the different topics are analysed as well as the results of the whole group and different peer groups, to facilitate comparison between different groups. A print-out is mailed after the examination to all participants. Programme directors receive overall information upon request.

Individual results are only made known to the participant, the programme director (if indicated and agreed by the participants) and the members of the Examination Committee of the EBU. Results are not given to other parties.

A registration fee of i 40 per candidate is levied for participation in the EBU In-Service Assessment for candidates from Europe. For participants from outside Europe the registration fee is i 50.

A reduced fee of i 31.50 per candidate (i 42.00 for candidates from outside Europe) is applicable if more than 4 candidates from one institute participate (one mailing and invoice address).

An additional rebate of 25% is offered to residents who are in training in one of the EBU certified training programmes in urology. Please visit our Website for the lists of EBU certified centres in Europe (www.ebu.com).

If you wish to participate, please fill out the enclosed application form and return the sheet before 1 February 2004 to: European Board of Urology, Examination Committee

For a proper registration it is essential that the application form is typed and filled out completely.

For further queries please contact the EBU Office in Rotterdam: tel.: +31.10.436.6665, fax: +31.10.436.6669, Email: ebu@ebu.com or visit our Website: WWW.EBU.COM.

It may be possible that you have participated before in one of the EBU examinations (either In-Service or FEBU). If this is the case, you are registered under an EBU CID number. If you know this number, you are kindly requested to fill out this number on the application form.