I would argue that you're either competent or not competent, maybe marginally competent, but that's it. The most important thing that comes up with a final grade scheme is that we are given fair chance to achieve that level. We got one or two sentences. Students would feel like the descriptors were very clear and throughout the rotation, the faculty go through these with students to discuss and share how we are doing in the rotation. The danger is they didn't get exceptional at a resident level of performance.
Some descriptions sound unbelievable to achieve.
We also have a five-point scale. We used that system for three years. We do it online, it's easy. Each clerkship have their own descriptors of criteria. Regarding Dr. Nadeau's comments, we are trying to find a system that evaluates the performance in a uniform way.