Writing High-Quality Multiple-Choice Questions

Multiple-choice questions (MCQs) are an invaluable assessment tool that is being broadly used in various milestones throughout the career of a radiologist, including undergraduate, medical licensing, board examinations, and continued medical education. Given their role in high stakes educational assessments and accreditation, these questions must be of the highest quality. Bloom’s taxonomy provides a concise hierarchy of learning objectives that has guided educators worldwide for decades. Although radiology is an image-based specialty, to date there have been no established guidelines for the use of medical images in examinations. In the present chapter, the benefits and limitations of MCQs are presented in comparison to other assessment modalities. Moreover, a thorough description of the construction of MCQs is provided, including potential pitfalls. Finally, the statistical properties that define a high-quality MCQ are described.