Introduction:: Pathology learning for medical undergraduate students is a challenging task. Kahoot! is a mobile game-based online digital formative assessment tool that can engage students in its learning. This study is the first to assess the effect of Kahoot! use on Pathology learning outside classroom using a comparative group with assessment done at the end of the course. Methods:: The study was carried out on the first-year Pathology students at Helwan University, Faculty of Medicine, after ending a basic Pathology course. The study is a retrospective quasiexperimental quantitative study. Academic performance of students in Pathology was compared between Kahoot! and non-Kahoot! users (55 students each). In addition, an online survey was introduced to the 55 Kahoot! user students to investigate their perceptions on it. Survey and test score data were analyzed by appropriate tests using IBM-SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). The level of significance was P < 0.05. Results:: Kahoot! enhanced Pathology understanding (83.6%), retaining knowledge (87.3%), made learning fun and motivating (89.1%). Other mentioned advantages of Kahoot! were practicing for exam (40%), simple and easy to use (36.4%), competitive (18.2%), self confidence booster (10.9%), forming a comprehensive image of the lecture (9%), quick (9%), and imagining skills booster (5.5%). Mentioned disadvantages included no explanation for the answers to questions (20%). A quarter of the students stated that the time limit for the questions was short (27.3%). Kahoot! use was significantly associated with better Pathology academic performance (P = 0.001), and it was not related to the general academic performance of the students (P = 0.06). Most users (85.4%) recommended its continuous future use. Conclusions::The study offers an endorsement to the use of Kahoot! for gamifying formative assessment of Pathology and can provide a basis for the design of an online Kahoot! -based continuous formative assessment plans implemented outside-classroom in the Pathology curricula.

Background: Medical education for undergraduate students in preclinical sciences is challenging and often described as boring by students. Educators have to find interesting new methods to deliver information and increase students' engagement and performance. The incorporation of new technological tools can help in this regard. Objectives: This retrospective study investigated two technological tools: Google Classroom learning management platform and Google Quiz Forms for online assessment, as regards students' satisfaction, engagement, and performance. Design and Methodology:The same Parasitology course was taught in a classic face-to-face way during the first year of the study and taught by blended learning technique over the second year. The performance of the students of each year was compared and a questionnaire was introduced at the end of the second year to assess the students' satisfaction. Results: Students who took full advantage of these tools showed improvement of their performance (mean= 79 in the assessment versus 83.6 in their final exam (P=0.01) and achieved significantly better scores than those of year-1 and year-2 in the final exam (mean= 83.6 versus 76.3 and 72.7 respectively, P<0.001). Among 128 questionnaire respondents, 78.9% preferred the e-learning, 94.5% found the Google Classroom easy to use, 76.6% described it as a time saver for submission of assignments and 96.9% expressed their wish to continue to use the blended learning as well as the formative assessments in other courses and would recommend it to others. They all agreed that the formative assessments at the end of each lecture helped them in summarizing the delivered topic and consolidated the received information. Conclusion: Use of these mobile-friendly, freely available technological tools in resource-limited higher education institutions is recommended to improve the students' engagement and performance in the preclinical sciences.

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Background: Although national licensing examinations (NLEs) may be a costly process, they can predict performance of medical practitioners for many years following graduation. The current licensing requirements do not fulfill this function as there are no clear performance criteria for them. Therefore, new requirements should be developed and announced.Objective: The study aims to develop a framework for the Egyptian Medical Licensing Exam (EMLE) by exploring the opinions and perceptions of Egyptian health practitioners and medical educators.Methods: This study is a two-phase exploratory mixed-method study. An online discussion forum was conducted with medical practitioners and educators concerning the development of the EMLE. Then, an online survey was distributed to explore the opinions of medical practitioners and educators about the EMLE.Results: Fifty medical practitioners and educators participated in the discussion forum about the development of the EMLE, while 266 participants responded to the online survey. The responses of the participants contributed to the development of a framework for the EMLE that is divided into two main sections, the exam logistics and the exam set up. The exam logistics included the exam committee, prerequisites for the exam, the admission criteria and fees, and validity of the license. The exam set up included exam setting, structure, pass marks, and exam retake policy. Conclusion:The study concluded that medical practitioners and educators could contribute greatly to the planning for the EMLE. Their opinions are based on their experiences and include the timing of the exam, blueprinting, assessment methods, psychometrics and retake.