The status of clinical evaluation in United States medical technology programs

How clinical evaluation of medical technology students is conducted in the United States was unknown. In this study, the questions investigated included what evaluation instruments are used, who evaluates, and how often are students evaluated in the clinical setting. The use of personality trait and technical performance criteria and the use of criterion-referenced and norm-referenced evaluations was determined. The influence of program location, class size, and type of program on the clinical evaluation was also investigated. This study was descriptive in design, using the survey approach. A questionnaire was developed and mailed to randomly selected medical technology program directors. All of the program directors reported the use of criterionreferenced evaluation. Technical performance was more heavily weighted than personality traits. Bench technologists most frequently evaluated the medical technology students and at the end of a section rotation. Clinical evaluation was most frequently indicated to be formative.