Comparison of the level of cognitive processing between case-based items and non-case-based items on the Interuniversity Progress Test of Medicine in the Netherlands

In this study, we analysed questions from the Dutch Interuniversity Progress Test of Medicine from 2007 to 2013. The progress test is a systematic, longitudinal assessment that aims to measure students’ knowledge at the level that they are expected to achieve by the end of their program, and the questions are based on the Dutch National Blueprint for the Medical Curriculum. The progress test is simultaneously administered 4 times a year to all undergraduate medical students, from the first to the sixth year. At the time of the study, 4 of the 8 medical schools in the Netherlands participated in the progress test. Each progress test consisted of 200 questions, which resulted in a total of 4800 questions. This progress test is particularly suitable because each test contains 200 unique questions developed by a large and diverse group of instructors at different medical schools, it is independent of any curriculum, and it contains both case-based questions and non-case-based questions.