The combination of measuring performance and giving feedback creates tension between formative and summative purposes of progress evaluations and can be challenging for supervisors. There are conflicting perspectives and evidence on the effects supervisor-trainee relationships have on assessing performance. The aim of this study was to learn how…

In Canada, high stakes objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) administered by the Medical Council of Canada have relied exclusively on physician examiners (PEs) for scoring. Prior research has looked at using SPs to replace PEs. This paper reports on two studies that implement and evaluate a standardized patient (SP) scoring tool to…

This study compared the effects of two types of delayed feedback (correct response or correct response + rationale) provided to students by a computer-based testing system following an exam. The preclinical medical curriculum at the University of Kansas Medical Center uses a two-exam system for summative assessments in which students test, revisit…

Underperforming trainees requiring remediation may threaten patient safety and are challenging for vocational training programs. Decisions to institute remediation are high-stakes--remediation being resource-intensive and emotionally demanding on trainees. Detection of underperformance requiring remediation is particularly problematic in general…

Simulation of disorders of respiratory mechanics shown by spirometry provides insight into the pathophysiology of disease but some clinically important disorders have not been simulated and none have been formally evaluated for education. We have designed simple mechanical devices which, along with existing simulators, enable all the main…

Feedback is considered important to acquire clinical skills. Research evidence shows that feedback does not always improve learning and its effects may be small. In many studies, a variety of variables involved in feedback provision may mask either one of their effects. E.g., there is reason to believe that the way oral feedback is framed may…

Providing clinical teachers with feedback about their teaching skills is a powerful tool to improve teaching. Evaluations are mostly based on questionnaires completed by residents. We investigated to what extent characteristics of residents, clinical teachers, and the clinical environment influenced these evaluations, and the relation between…

"Curricula-in-action" generally differ from "official" curricula. That is particularly true of clerkship curricula because the practising doctors who supervise medical students' clinical activities are only secondarily educators. Clerkship education is evaluated, however, according to benchmarks set by official curricula.…

Background: Computer-assisted tools are rarely adopted for dental education in China. In China, 3D digital technology, such as Virtual Reality Systems, are often rejected in the dental field due to prohibitive pricing. There is also a reluctance to move away from traditional patterns of dental education. Objective: The current study is one of a…

Purpose: To design, implement and evaluate a multisource feedback instrument to assess Foundation trainees across the UK. Methods: mini-PAT (Peer Assessment Tool) was modified from SPRAT (Sheffield Peer Review Assessment Tool), an established multisource feedback (360 [degree]) instrument to assess more senior doctors, as part of a blueprinting…

As the rapidity with which medical knowledge is generated and disseminated becomes amplified, an increasing emphasis has been placed on the need for physicians to develop the skills necessary for life-long learning. One such skill is the ability to evaluate one's own deficiencies. A ubiquitous finding in the study of self-assessment, however, is…