Teaching and learning in medicine
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Phenomenon: There is an abundance of literature on Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) in theory, but there are few studies on the EPAs in practice for undergraduate clinical education. In addition, little is known about the degree to which the EPAs are or are not aligned with physician assessors' performance schemas of the clerkship student. Investigating the degree to which physician assessors' performance schemas are already aligned with the activities described by the EPAs is critical for effective workplace assessment design. ⋯ Insights: Physician assessors' performance schemas for clerkship students were aligned with EPAs to varying degrees depending on the specific EPA and whether describing strength or improvement. Of interest, the frequently mentioned non-EPA comments represented some of the competencies that contribute to effectively performing particular EPAs and are Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) core competencies (e.g., medical knowledge, professionalism), used in residency programs. Because physician assessors for undergraduate medical education often also participate in graduate medical education, the frequency of non-EPA topics aligned to ACGME competencies may suggest influence of graduate medical education evaluative frameworks on performance schemas for clerkship students; this could be important when considering implementation of EPAs in undergraduate medical education.
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Construct: For curriculum development purposes, this study examined how the development of residents as educators is reflected in the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Milestones. Background: Residents teach patients, families, medical students, physicians, and other health professionals during and beyond their training. Despite this expectation, it is unclear how the development of residents as educators is reflected in the specialty-specific Milestones. ⋯ Conclusions: The current ACGME Milestones largely imply that resident teaching is a high-level or aspirational goal, achieved without a clear or consistently assessed developmental progression. These findings run counter to the theoretical basis that underlies the development of the Milestones. Wide variation among specialties indicates lack of consensus around the ideal skill set of the resident educator and limits the utility of these documents for curriculum development in this domain.
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Construct: The McMaster Modular Assessment Program (McMAP) is a programmatic workplace-based assessment (WBA) system that provides emergency medicine trainees with competency judgments through frequent task-specific and global daily assessments. Background: The longevity of McMAP relative to other programmatic WBA systems affords a unique view that precedes large-scale transitions to competency-based medical education (CBME), particularly in North America. Although prior work has described the perspective of residents using this system, the in-depth experiences of assessors using the system have yet to be explored. ⋯ However, attendings also perceived a number of challenges of McMAP and programmatic WBA more broadly. These included a reluctance to give and to document negative feedback, "gaming" of the system by both attendings and residents, and a variety of logistic and technology-related concerns. Conclusions: Based on our findings, we offer several key recommendations that can help programs maximize the benefits of programmatic WBA as they transition to CBME.
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Phenomenon: Learning to assume ownership of patient care is a critical objective of medical training. However, little is known about how ownership is best defined and measured or about its value to trainees. The authors aimed to define ownership and elucidate the significance of developing ownership skills over the course of pediatric residency training. ⋯ Insights: Pediatric residents and faculty considered ownership a cornerstone of patient care and critical to forming a professional identity. The defining characteristics of patient care ownership-personal responsibility, connections with patients and families, and continuity of care-can be used to develop an instrument to assess trainee development of ownership. These findings reinforce the value of ownership in graduate medical education and support creating curricular interventions to foster ownership.