Is there a role for peer review in performance appraisal of medical students?

In 2002, Epstein and Hundert undertook a review of all medical literature that studied the reliability and validity of measures of the clinical or professional competence of clinicians, medical students and residents to consider current assessment formats for doctors and trainees. They noted that current means of assessment test core knowledge and skills reliably, with the most commonly used assessment methods identified as: multi-choice examinations to evaluate factual knowledge and abstract problem solving, standardised patient assessments of physical examination and technical and communication skills. However, Epstein and Hundert also observed that assessment formats under-emphasise some important domains, including professionalism.