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Surgical Trainers' Experience and Perspectives on Workplace-Based Assessments

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Alexander PhillipsORCiD, Anantha Madhavan, Dr Lucy Bookless, David Macafee

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Workplace-based assessments (WBAs) were designed to provide formative feedback to trainees throughout their surgical career. Several studies highlight dissatisfaction with WBAs, and some feel they lack validity and reliability and exist as a "tick-box exercise." No studies have looked at the attitudes of the assessor.AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate perceptions and experience of the 4 intercollegiate surgical curriculum programme WBAs by assessors.METHODS: An 18-item electronic questionnaire, including 6-point Likert scoring questions, was e-mailed to all surgical program directors for distribution to general surgery trainers within their deanery.RESULTS: In total, 64 responses were received. All trainers had been trained in using WBAs. Trainers had the most experience with procedure-based assessments (PBAs)-72% of trainers had completed more than 25 PBAs. Trainers felt PBAs were the most beneficial WBA, and both PBAs and case-based discussions were regarded as significantly more useful than mini clinical evaluation exercise (p < 0.05). More than 74% stated that WBAs were mainly initiated by trainees, and only 10% had specific sessions allocated to complete WBAs.CONCLUSION: WBAs are regarded as beneficial to trainees. The results suggest that assessors feel case-based discussions and PBAs, which assess higher thinking and practice of complex practical skills, respectively, are significandy more useful than assessments involved in observing more straightforward clinical and procedural interactions. (C) 2015 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Phillips AW, Madhavan A, Bookless LR, Macafee DAL

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Journal of Surgical Education

Year: 2015

Volume: 72

Issue: 5

Pages: 979-984

Print publication date: 01/09/2015

Online publication date: 14/05/2015

Acceptance date: 01/01/1900

ISSN (print): 1931-7204

ISSN (electronic): 1878-7452

Publisher: Elsevier

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsurg.2015.03.015

DOI: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2015.03.015

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