Factors Influencing Bachelor of Science in Clinical Medicine Students’ Performance in Clinical Officers Council Licensure Examination in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Performance in a licensure examination is one of the indicators of quality assurance and shows that the graduates have met the professional standards. Performance in COC licensure examination has been fluctuating. The objective of the study was to investigate the association between socio-demographic, institutional and regulatory body factors and licensure examination performance of the graduates of BSc. in Clinical Medicine (BScCM). Using a retrospective and mixed method research design and purposive sampling techniques, quantitative consolidated data of 427 graduates of universities was collected from the COC Regulatory Human Resource Information System (rHRIS) targeting cohorts who sat for licensure examination from September 2016 to May 2019 examination series. The study had 219 males and 208 females ranging from 17-49 years. Qualitative data was collected from key informants. IBM SPSS version 26 software was used to analyze quantitative data while qualitative data was triangulated for thematic analysis. The results revealed that there was a signifcant relationship between sociodemographic, instituional and regulatory body factors and licensure performance. Regression analysis was used to measure the association of the various factor variables. The study found out that age had a statically significant relationship with performance, where students aged 30 years and above performed better than those of 30 years and below. (OR: 0.089, 95% CI 0.012-0.660 p=0.018). Mode of study and teaching methods had stastistical significance of (OR:0.105,95%CI 0.032-0.345,P=0.000 and OR:0.192, 95%CI 0.089-0.414P=0.000 respectively. Lack of content validity and timing in COC licensure examinations were reported by key informants to influence performance. In conclusion the study demonstrated that results can be used to predict licensure examination performance and findings are useful in planning recruitment and developing examination policies. It was recommended that COC review’s her examination process, develop an examination blue print that will guide in setting examinations that test competency.