In-training assessment: qualitative study of effects on supervision and feedback in an undergraduate clinical rotation.

BACKGROUND: Supervision and feedback are essential factors that contribute to the learning environment in the context of workplace learning and their frequency and quality can be improved. Assessment is a powerful tool with which to influence students' learning and supervisors' teaching and thus the learning environment. OBJECTIVE: To investigate an in-training assessment (ITA) programme in action and to explore its effects on supervision and feedback. DESIGN: A qualitative study using individual, semistructured interviews. SUBJECTS AND SETTING: Eight students and 17 assessors (9 members of staff and 8 residents) in the internal medicine undergraduate clerkship at Vrije Universiteit Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. RESULTS: The ITA programme in action differed from the intended programme. Assessors provided hardly any follow-up on supervision and feedback given during assessments. Although students wanted more supervision and feedback, they rarely asked for it. Students and assessors failed to integrate the whole range of competencies included in the ITA programme into their respective learning and supervision and feedback. When giving feedback, assessors rarely gave borderline or fail judgements. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: If an ITA programme in action is to be congruent with the intended programme, the implementation of the programme must be monitored. It is also necessary to provide full information about the programme and to ensure this information is given repeatedly. Introducing an ITA programme that includes the assessment of several competencies does not automatically lead to more attention being paid to these competencies in terms of supervision and feedback. Measures that facilitate change in the learning environment seem to be a prerequisite for enabling the assessment programme to steer the learning environment.

Reliability of the clinical teaching effectiveness instrument.

INTRODUCTION: The Clinical Teaching Effectiveness Instrument (CTEI) was developed to evaluate the quality of the clinical teaching of educators. Its authors reported evidence supporting content and criterion validity and found favourable reliability findings. We tested the validity and reliability of this instrument in a European context and investigated its reliability as an instrument to evaluate the quality of clinical teaching at group level rather than at the level of the individual teacher. METHODS: Students participating in a surgical clerkship were asked to fill in a questionnaire reflecting a student-teacher encounter with a staff member or a resident. We calculated variance components using the urgenova program. For individual score interpretation of the quality of clinical teaching the standard error of estimate was calculated. For group interpretation we calculated the root mean square error. RESULTS: The results did not differ statistically between staff and residents. The average score was 3.42. The largest variance component was associated with rater variance. For individual score interpretation a reliability of > 0.80 was reached with 7 ratings or more. To reach reliable outcomes at group level, 15 educators or more were needed with a single rater per educator. DISCUSSION: The required sample size for appraisal of individual teaching is easily achievable. Reliable findings can also be obtained at group level with a feasible sample size. The results provide additional evidence of the reliability of the CTEI in undergraduate medical education in a European setting. The results also showed that the instrument can be used to measure the quality of teaching at group level.

Global clinical performance rating, reliability and validity in an undergraduate clerkship.

BACKGROUND: Global performance rating is frequently used in clinical training despite its known psychometric drawbacks. Inter-rater reliability is low in undergraduate training but better in residency training, possibly because residency offers more opportunities for supervision. The low or moderate predictive validity of global performance ratings in undergraduate and residency training may be due to low or unknown reliability of both global performance ratings and criterion measures. In an undergraduate clerkship, we investigated whether reliability improves when raters are more familiar with students' work and whether validity improves with increased reliability of the predictor and criterion instrument. METHODS: Inter-rater reliability was determined in a clerkship with more student-rater contacts than usual. The in-training assessment programme of the clerkship that immediately followed was used as the criterion measure to determine predictive validity. RESULTS: With four ratings, inter-rater reliability was 0.41 and predictive validity was 0.32. Reliability was lower and validity slightly higher than similar results published for residency training. CONCLUSION: Even with increased student-rater interaction, the reliability and validity of global performance ratings were too low to warrant the usage of global performance ratings as individual assessment format. However, combined with other assessment measures, global performance ratings may lead to improved integral assessment.

Feasibility and reliability of an in-training assessment programme in an undergraduate clerkship.

INTRODUCTION: Structured assessment, embedded in a training programme, with systematic observation, feedback and appropriate documentation may improve the reliability of clinical assessment. This type of assessment format is referred to as in-training assessment (ITA). The feasibility and reliability of an ITA programme in an internal medicine clerkship were evaluated. The programme comprised 4 ward-based test formats and 1 outpatient clinic-based test format. Of the 4 ward-based test formats, 3 were single-sample tests, consisting of 1 student-patient encounter, 1 critical appraisal session and 1 case presentation. The other ward-based test and the outpatient-based test were multiple sample tests, consisting of 12 ward-based case write-ups and 4 long cases in the outpatient clinic. In all the ITA programme consisted of 19 assessments. METHODS: During 41 months, data were collected from 119 clerks. Feasibility was defined as over two thirds of the students obtaining 19 assessments. Reliability was estimated by performing generalisability analyses with 19 assessments as items and 5 test formats as items. RESULTS: A total of 73 students (69%) completed 19 assessments. Reliability expressed by the generalisability coefficients was 0.81 for 19 assessments and 0.55 for 5 test formats. CONCLUSIONS: The ITA programme proved to be feasible. Feasibility may be improved by scheduling protected time for assessment for both students and staff. Reliability may be improved by more frequent use of some of the test formats.

The impact of multifaceted educational structuring on learning effectiveness in a surgical clerkship.

INTRODUCTION: Various measures have been introduced to enhance learning experiences in clerkships, generally with limited success. This study evaluated the impact of a multifaceted approach on the effectiveness of learning in a surgical clerkship. In accordance with results obtained in continuing medical education, several interventions were introduced simultaneously. We compared students' evaluations of the traditional surgical clerkship with those of the restructured clerkship. METHODS: Two consecutive cohorts of students were asked to complete a questionnaire about the quality and quantity of their learning experiences. Cohort 1 (n = 28) undertook the traditional clerkship and cohort 2 (n = 72) the restructured clerkship. A Mann-Whitney test was used to compare outcomes between the 2 cohorts. RESULTS: There were few statistically significant differences between cohorts 1 and 2. Overall, quality indicators did not differ between the 2 cohorts. DISCUSSION: A short-term multifaceted intervention led to a slight increase in the performance of clinical skills and a slight decrease in time spent on activities of limited educational value. The intervention may have been too brief to produce substantial effects. Future interventions should also target teachers, including trainees, in order to assess their opinions and address their educational needs.

A qualitative study of constructive clinical learning experiences.

Little is known about the effectiveness of clinical education. A more educational structure is considered to be potentially beneficial. The following structured components were added to a surgical clerkship: logbooks, an observed student-patient encounter, individual appraisals, feedback on patient notes, and (case) presentations by students. The authors organized two focus-group sessions in which 19 students participated to explore their perceptions about effective clinical learning experiences and the newly introduced structured components. The analysis of the transcripts showed that observation and constructive feedback are key features of clinical training. The structured activities were appreciated and the results show the direction to be taken for further improvement. Learning experiences depended vastly on individual clinicians' educational qualities. Students experienced being on call, assisting in theatre and time for self-study as instructive elements. Recommended clerkship components are: active involvement of students, direct observation, selection of teachers, a positive learning environment and time for self-study.

How effective is a clerkship as a learning environment?

To assess the educational quality of a traditional clerkship, a questionnaire was administered to 28 students at the end of their 10-week surgical clerkship. The questionnaire contained 116 items on learning objectives, patient problems encountered by students, clinical skills performed, feedback received and amounts of time spent on various activities. The students indicated that they had adequate ability to correctly analyse and manage patient problems. However, the standard deviations and ranges show that individual students' exposure to various patient problems was insufficient. Students generally saw too few emergency patients. The frequencies of performance of diagnostic and therapeutic skills varied widely among students. Most of the feedback received by students was given by residents rather than faculty physicians. Students spent considerable time on activities of limited educational value. It appears that learning during a clerkship occurs rather haphazardly. There are indications that the 'educational exposure' varies substantially from student to student.