Continual and final testing within postgraduate course in diabetology

Abstract

Background: The postgraduate course for therapeutic educators in diabetology (PETE) accredited by the Health Care Department of the Czech Republic was held at the Medical Faculty of Palacky University in Olomouc in collaboration with the Teaching Hospital Olomouc between 2010 and 2014. The task of PETE was to prepare educators for the continual process of patient education in diabetology based on the principles of the Diabetes Education Study Group of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. In five eight-module courses (80 lessons each) PETE participants were tested both continually and at the end of the course. The final testing was repeated three months after the end of the course and then again in 2018. Goal: To assess the participants' knowledge during the PETE course and repeatedly on its completion. Methods: In each module 88 PETE participants wrote an entrance and final knowledge didactic test of own construction. It contained 20 open tasks requiring a brief answer. At the end of the course they wrote a final test (a selection of 40 tasks from the previous tests). The test results were assessed for each year separately using the Wilcoxon matched pairs test and descriptive statistics, and the results of the final testing using the Friedman Test. Results: While repeating the evening (final) test there was a significant increase in the test score in all the modules. In the first final written test the participants achieved 92.5% to 98.8% of the maximum possible level of knowledge. When repeating the final test (Final 2, Final 3) it turned out that the participants had scored significantly worse average results. Conclusion: In each year of the PETE all the modules led to a significant increase of the participants' knowledge. In contrast to that, repeated testing showed a significant decrease. We assume that this was caused by their inadequate acquisition of the knowledge, and the fact that they do not use/apply it in everyday practice.