Validation of Instruments for Monitoring and Clinical Assessment During the Internal Medicine Clerkship Through Expert Judgment

Abstract

Introduction: Clinical assessment during the Internal Medicine clerkship requires valid instruments that enable the objective evaluation of students' learning progress and competency development. At the Universidad Técnica de Manabí, no methodologically validated instruments were available for this purpose. Objective: To validate, through expert judgment, the content of a questionnaire designed for medical students and a semi-structured interview guide for clinical faculty aimed at assessing monitoring and clinical evaluation during the Internal Medicine clerkship. Methodology: A methodological instrument validation study was conducted between January and March 2026 at the Universidad Técnica de Manabí. The instruments were developed based on a literature review and the principles of competency-based medical education. Seven experts holding doctoral degrees and with experience in medical education, university teaching, clinical assessment, and research evaluated the clarity, relevance, pertinence, and coherence of the items using a five-point ordinal scale. Content validity was determined using Aiken's V coefficient. Main Results: The questionnaire for medical students achieved a mean Aiken's V coefficient of 0.854, while the semi-structured interview guide for clinical faculty obtained a mean coefficient of 0.890. All items exceeded the minimum acceptability criterion, demonstrating strong expert agreement and confirming the content representativeness of both instruments. Conclusion: Both instruments demonstrated adequate content validity, constituting methodologically robust tools for monitoring and assessing clinical performance during the Internal Medicine clerkship.