Online paediatric clinical examinations in the COVID-19 era: An acceptable alternative

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has necessitated significant adaptation to medical education. A significant proportion of teaching has moved online, and innovative approaches have been required in all areas, including assessment. Provision of the clinical examination has presented a particular challenge. This year it was considered impractical and unsafe to carry out clinical examinations in person due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Therefore, in our institution, clinical examinations in paediatrics were moved online. Prior to summative assessment, teaching was provided using a similar format to the examination in order to improve assessment literacy. The summative clinical assessment was held using Zoom software and included history-taking, knowledge of paediatric clinical examination and communication. Retrospective analysis showed a significant correlation between students’ performance in the online clinical examination, other methods of assessment and their overall grade. In the absence of a traditional clinical examination, this method appears to be an acceptable alternative.