Universities medical assessment partnership
Encyclopedia
The Universities Medical Assessment Partnership (UMAP) was set up in 2003 with the aim to develop a high quality bank of written assessment items for use in high stakes examinations at medical school
s.
In an article published by the Subject Centre for Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine it is written that by sharing resources and working together the UMAP partners are attempting to stop "reinventing the wheel" in the field of undergraduate written assessment in medical education.
The project began as a partnership of medical schools at University of Leeds
, University of Liverpool
, University of Manchester
, University of Newcastle and University of Sheffield
. The project has since grown to 14 partners including University of Birmingham
, University College Cork, University of East Anglia
, Hull York Medical School
, University of Keele, University of Leicester
, Peninsula Medical School, University of Southampton
and University of Warwick
.
UMAP is a collaborative project where each member school contributes equal effort and resource to the development of a written assessment item bank dedicated to MCQs and extending matching questions (EMQs) items. Each partner hosts question writing training workshops, facilitated by the central project team]]. Invited item authors are members of either NHS
or university staff. Items are brought forward into the item bank in draft form before being allocated for editing and approval by one of UMAP's many question quality assurance
teams. Items are fed back into the bank with those being approved where they are ready for use in any notified high stakes examination taking place at a partner medical school. Partner schools select a range of items from the UMAP bank in advance of an examination and scrutinise these in order to achieve the correct mix of items for the intended examination. Anonymous examination results are later fed back to UMAP so that item analysis can be undertaken, removing any items from further use if necessary. Feedback is then returned to the original authors including the proportion of correct student answers per each item usage instance.
it is quoted that
The UMAP bank is reported to have amassed over 4000 written assessment items since 2003.
UMAP makes regular announcements about forthcoming item writing workshops which are open to members of staff with an affiliation to UK medical education and take place across the 15 partner school sites.
UMAP is referred to in a report published by the GMC
Education Committee exploring strategic options to improve assessment provision in UK undergraduate medical education.
to research and define a software tool to support storage, exchange and analysis of high stakes assessment items. The funded project is titled UKCDR
.
Medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
s.
UMAP aims
The partnership's aims are:- To become a national opt-in system for assessments in undergraduate medicine.
- To develop a bank of sufficient size such that security is a non-issue.
- To sustain and build on quality in question writing and question review.
- To output evidence based research on assessments in undergraduate medicine.
In an article published by the Subject Centre for Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine it is written that by sharing resources and working together the UMAP partners are attempting to stop "reinventing the wheel" in the field of undergraduate written assessment in medical education.
UMAP partners
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
, University of Liverpool
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...
, University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
, University of Newcastle and University of Sheffield
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
. The project has since grown to 14 partners including University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
, University College Cork, University of East Anglia
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
, Hull York Medical School
Hull York Medical School
The Hull York Medical School , is a medical school in England which took its first intake of students in 2003. The school was opened as a part of the British Government's attempts to train more doctors, which also saw Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Peninsula Medical School and University of...
, University of Keele, University of Leicester
University of Leicester
The University of Leicester is a research-led university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is a mile south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park and Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College....
, Peninsula Medical School, University of Southampton
University of Southampton
The University of Southampton is a British public university located in the city of Southampton, England, a member of the Russell Group. The origins of the university can be dated back to the founding of the Hartley Institution in 1862 by Henry Robertson Hartley. In 1902, the Institution developed...
and University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
.
Funding
The project was originally funded through the HEFCE Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning, Phase 4. Funding was awarded for a three year set up term which ran from January 2003 to December 2005. At the end of the funded period the original five partners agreed that UMAP would move to become self-funded. At this time the consortium invited other UK medical schools to join.Process
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
or university staff. Items are brought forward into the item bank in draft form before being allocated for editing and approval by one of UMAP's many question quality assurance
Quality Assurance
Quality assurance, or QA for short, is the systematic monitoring and evaluation of the various aspects of a project, service or facility to maximize the probability that minimum standards of quality are being attained by the production process...
teams. Items are fed back into the bank with those being approved where they are ready for use in any notified high stakes examination taking place at a partner medical school. Partner schools select a range of items from the UMAP bank in advance of an examination and scrutinise these in order to achieve the correct mix of items for the intended examination. Anonymous examination results are later fed back to UMAP so that item analysis can be undertaken, removing any items from further use if necessary. Feedback is then returned to the original authors including the proportion of correct student answers per each item usage instance.
Progress
In a webpage advertising a UMAP workshop to members of staff at University of LeedsUniversity of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
it is quoted that
"18 high stakes examinations took place across partner medical schools in 2005/06 using items from UMAP."
The UMAP bank is reported to have amassed over 4000 written assessment items since 2003.
UMAP makes regular announcements about forthcoming item writing workshops which are open to members of staff with an affiliation to UK medical education and take place across the 15 partner school sites.
UMAP is referred to in a report published by the GMC
General Medical Council
The General Medical Council registers and regulates doctors practising in the United Kingdom. It has the power to revoke or restrict a doctor's registration if it deems them unfit to practise...
Education Committee exploring strategic options to improve assessment provision in UK undergraduate medical education.
Related activities
UMAP is involved in a range of activities relevant to quality enhancement in undergraduate medical assessments. The same project team as runs the UMAP project received funding in 2005 from the Joint Information Systems CommitteeJoint Information Systems Committee
JISC is a United Kingdom non-departmental public body whose role is to support post-16 and higher education and research by providing leadership in the use of ICT in learning, teaching, research and administration...
to research and define a software tool to support storage, exchange and analysis of high stakes assessment items. The funded project is titled UKCDR
UKCDR
The United Kingdom Collaboration for a Digital Repository was a software design project.-Aims:To research and define functional requirements for a tool to support storage, exchange and analysis of high-stakes assessment items...
.