Introduction:

The progress test (PT) is a knowledge assessment tool, consisting of desirable cognitive undergraduate content, that provides feedback on the student’s cognitive development.. For the school, it serves as a diagnostic evaluation of the curriculum.

Objective:

The aim of the study was to assess the cognitive performance in the progress test of students in the Brazilian Northeast.

Method:

A cross-sectional survey was conducted with results from six classes of students that performed the PT since the first semester of the medical course. The analysis consisted of PT results from 2013 to 2021, described by means, Y6-Y1 performance difference, Student’s T test and Pearson correlation at 6Y. The study was approved by a Research Ethics Committee.

Result:

The results of 361 (88%) students showed a progressive increase in PT global scores from Y1 to Y6. The performance difference of the 2015.2 class was higher (p=0.047; R=0.73) than the others and the test difficulty index was similar for all. There was a difference between Y6 classes, ranging from 64.3% to 72.5% (p=0.003; R=0.85). From Y3 to Y6, all classes increased their PT scores. Higher variability between classes was reported in the areas of Surgery and Public Health.

Conclusion:

The progress test proved to be an important tool for knowledge assessment and for evaluation of the medical curriculum.

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