Assessment of Medical Students, Performance in Lorestan University of Medical Sciences with 360-degree Method

The 360-degree evaluation is a method that is used to assess the performance of medical students. This study has been designed to assess medical student's performance in behavioral and professional competence. We used the questionnaires that were designed earlier and their validity and reliability had been confirmed.These questionnaires were distributed among evaluators to assess medical students.Collected data were analysed with SPSS15 software. Mean scores of respondents in each category were calculated. Intraclass correlation coefficients measured the reliability of ratings within each group of evaluators. Pearson,s correlation coefficient was computed to examine the correlation between the evaluators. Ranking of the medical students was performed by calculation the mean of total scores given by each category of evaluator(s). Intraclass correlation coefficients showed a narrow range, from 0.61 to 0.83. Analysis of data showed an excellent correlation among the different evaluators in each category among medical students, patients and physicians. Intraclass correlation coefficients showed a range, from 0.41 to 0.82. Correlation between the score of nurses versus other categories is not significant. Nurses rated studens lower than other evaluators. The mean of the scale calculated for each student showed that the highest ranked medical student had high scores in different groups and the lowest student was low in different groups. Based on this study, the 360-degree instrument appears to be a useful way to evaluate students’ behavioral and professional competency.