Item Writing 101: Multiple-Choice Items with Realistic Clinical Scenarios

The National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME) has created this course to provide basic training in writing a realistic clinical scenario and single-best-option multiple choice-item. This interactive course includes videos of NBOME's National Faculty Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) as well as responsive assessment activities throughout. The content of this course places an emphasis on assessing competencies for osteopathic medicine and related health care professions. 

Target Audience

This course is intended for new and experienced item writers who are assessing competencies for osteopathic medicine and related health care professions through multiple-choice items.

Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Distinguish between basic-recall and higher-order item objectives
• Write a realistic, chronologic clinical scenario
• Write a focused, positively worded lead-in
• Write homogeneous, plausible answer options
• Identify and resolve common test-wise clues and item-design issues