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Arab Board of Health Specializations

Measurement and Evaluation

Editorial

From Paper to Precision: The Cross-Border Digital Transformation Journey in the Assessment of Arab Board of Health Specializations Examinations

Omar Al-Rawas ; Sabeeh Al-Mashhadani ; Jawad Al-Sharif

The Arab Board of Health Specializations is on a journey that goes beyond digitizing exams; it is a radical transformational journey that reflects a deep commitment to achieving excellence in healthcare. Moving from traditional paper-based assessments to an advanced, cross-border digital platform represents an ambitious vision to raise the standards of medical assessment in the Arab world. This transformation is centered around ensuring that every specialist assessed by the Arab Board embodies the standards of accuracy, readiness and flexibility that today’s healthcare sector demands. This journey began in 2019 with a pivotal workshop led by Professor Nigel Bax, which resulted in a shared vision for modernizing medical assessments. Under the leadership of Secretary General Professor Omar Al-Rawas, the Board laid the foundations for a central digital framework that unites thousands of trainees, trainers and scientific board members across borders. In just one year, this vision was realized with the launch of the first computerized knowledge exam in dermatology, demonstrating the potential for digital assessments to be implemented at scale. Since then, over 30,000 trainees have benefited from this platform, fundamentally transforming the way their skills and knowledge are assessed. More >>>

New article :20/3/2025

Beyond Digitization: The Arab Board’s Journey Toward Advanced Medical Assessment

The Arab Board of Health Specializations (ABHS) is undergoing a fundamental transformation in its assessment methodologies. The evolution is no longer just about digitizing exams but about intelligently utilizing data and feedback, reflecting a new vision for evaluating physicians. Exams are no longer designed solely to test knowledge; they have become tools for analyzing trainees’ performance with precision and directing training toward the competencies required for clinical practice.

Scientific councils have begun investing in data-driven assessment and training enhancement, making feedback a key element that helps training centers refine their curricula based on trainees' performance. Electronic item banks have significantly evolved, no longer serving as mere repositories of questions but functioning as intelligent systems capable of categorizing questions based on strict criteria, ensuring balanced exams and structured exam blueprints.

This transformation is not limited to knowledge-based exams; it has also extended to practical assessments. Evaluations are no longer confined to performance at a single station but now analyze a candidate’s performance across multiple components within a station, providing a more detailed and precise measurement of clinical competency. Advanced psychometric and statistical methods have strengthened exam reliability, with data-driven item analysis becoming an integral part of exam development. This has led to higher-quality questions, improved station designs, and digital-assisted cut-score determination, ensuring greater accuracy and transparency.

With this progress, some scientific councils are now moving toward Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT)—a groundbreaking advancement in digital cognitive assessment. CAT dynamically adjusts question difficulty in real-time based on the candidate’s responses, making assessment more precise and efficient while reducing exam duration without compromising quality. This shift has been made possible by developing item banks enriched with questions categorized by difficulty and discrimination indices, making the transition to adaptive testing a logical and necessary step.

Assessment is no longer a routine process but an adaptive, evolving system that reflects the advancement of medical specialties while ensuring global standards for physician competence. Through these transformations, the Arab Board is not only keeping pace with assessment innovations but redefining its standards to become more fair, accurate, and efficient, ultimately improving the quality of medical professionals and ensuring their readiness for the modern healthcare landscape.

Digital Transformation

Automation, digital transformation and artificial intelligence are playing a pivotal role in reshaping our daily lives, especially in the education and healthcare sectors. Assessment is a key pillar of the educational process, especially in the residency programs of the Arab Board for Health Specialties. Digital technology contributes to improving assessment tools, by saving time and effort and improving the quality of assessment processes and methods of presenting results. However, these technologies still require a combination of human innovation to ensure the achievement of realistic assessment that is characterized by accuracy and credibility.

Evaluation through History

The history of human civilizations has been marked by the development of various methods for assessing cognitive abilities and problem-solving skills. In Mesopotamia, “tablet houses” schools were established, where assessment was based on students’ ability to accurately copy texts and solve mathematical problems. In ancient Egypt, the Egyptians developed elaborate systems for evaluating workers on large-scale projects such as the pyramids, which helped document accomplishments and ensure quality. In ancient China, the “civil service examination” emerged as one of the first formal systems for selecting qualified people for government positions, a pioneering example of assessing scientific and administrative abilities.

The Evolution of Medical Education Assessment

Medical education has undergone a major transformation over the ages, from a focus on memorization and information retrieval tests to the use of comprehensive assessment tools that focus on clinical and applied skills. In the mid-20th century, structured practical examinations and field assessments emerged, which helped improve objectivity and reduce bias. Today, technology is playing a crucial role in medical assessment using artificial intelligence and virtual simulation, providing more accurate assessments that reflect clinical reality.

Evaluation between Human and Technology

Despite technological advances, human context in evaluation remains essential. Modern technology is a supportive tool for improving the accuracy and efficiency of evaluations, but it cannot replace human interpretation of contexts and results. Humans remain the primary driver of data interpretation and ensuring the credibility of results, making technology a means to enhance the evaluation process, not a substitute for it.

Five Assessment Tools

Evaluation is a deep human process that aims to understand the extent of progress and the achievement of educational and pedagogical goals. Evaluation relies on multiple tools, each of which aims to reveal a different dimension of learning and performance. Among these five basic tools are: Questioning, Inquiry, Metacognition, Contemplation, and Observation. These tools are not just technical means, but rather methods that reflect the connection between evaluation and human life, and enable him to discover himself and his abilities.

Question

It is the most common tool and is considered the key to direct assessment. By asking clear and direct questions, the assessor can explore the extent of the learner’s knowledge and understanding. Questions can take a variety of forms such as multiple choice, essay questions, or oral inquiries. Their purpose is not only to measure knowledge, but also to direct thinking towards key concepts and draw attention to what is important. In the Holy Quran, we find the use of questions as an effective tool for teaching, such as the verse: {Are those who know equal to those who do not know?} (Az-Zumar: 9), to highlight the value of knowledge.

Inquiry

A tool that opens doors to critical thinking and exploration. Questioning aims to ask open-ended questions that push the learner to search and think deeply. This tool encourages the individual to delve into the details and understand the causes and effects. Questioning in the Qur’an is used to stimulate the mind, such as the Almighty’s saying: {Do they not look at the camels - how they are created?} (Al-Ghashiyah: 17), which calls on people to contemplate the greatness of creation and the creativity of God.

Metacognition

It is a mental journey that aims to analyze and link ideas to reach logical and profound conclusions. Metacognition requires mental organization and the ability to draw conclusions. In the context of assessment, this tool is used to assess the ability to solve problems and link concepts to practical contexts. Allah Almighty says: {Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding} (Al Imran: 190), to highlight the importance of reflecting on the signs of the universe as a means of understanding the wisdom of the Creator.

Reflection

A personal and human tool that aims to review experiences and draw lessons from them. contemplation is not just thinking, but rather a deeper look into oneself and what one has been through. In evaluation, reflection is used to assess personal and intellectual growth, and to enhance self-awareness. The Holy Quran encourages reflection on events and situations, as in the verse: {Indeed in their stories is a lesson for those of understanding} (Yusuf: 111), where one is called to draw lessons from the stories of the prophets.

Observation

It is considered a practical tool that relies on monitoring actual performance in natural contexts. Observation provides a realistic view of performance away from theorizing, which makes it an effective tool for evaluating practical and behavioral competencies. The Holy Quran directs man to observe the world around him, such as His saying: {So let man look at his food} (Abasa: 24), which is an invitation to contemplate the details of creation and its blessings.

These five tools are integrated into the Holy Quran in a unique way that serves educational and pedagogical purposes. Questioning stimulates direct understanding, questioning deepens thinking, contemplation organizes the mind, meditation nourishes the soul, and observation reveals practical facts. These tools are not just a means of evaluation, but rather educational methods that contribute to building the human being cognitively and emotionally, which makes evaluation not only a measurement process, but a developmental experience towards the better.

Five Assessment Tools .mp3

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