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The effect of in‐training assessment on clinical confidence in postgraduate education
Author(s) -
Ringsted Charlotte,
Pallisgaard Jane,
Østergaard Doris,
Scherpbier Albert
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
medical education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.776
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1365-2923
pISSN - 0308-0110
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2929.2004.02018.x
Subject(s) - competence (human resources) , medical education , low confidence , confidence interval , psychology , medicine , family medicine , social psychology
The literature on how in‐training assessment (ITA) works in practice and what educational outcomes can actually be achieved is limited. One of the aims of introducing ITA is to increase trainees' clinical confidence; this relies on the assumption that assessment drives learning through its content, format and programming. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of introducing a structured ITA programme on junior doctors' clinical confidence. The programme was aimed at first year trainees in anaesthesiology. Methods The study involved a nationwide survey of junior doctors' self‐confidence in clinical performance before (in 2001) and 2 years after (in 2003) the introduction of an ITA programme. Respondents indicated confidence on a 155‐item questionnaire related to performance of clinical skills and tasks reflecting broad aspects of competence. A total of 23 of these items related to the ITA programme. Results The response rate was 377/531 (71%) in 2001 and 344/521 (66%) in 2003. There were no statistically significant differences in mean levels of confidence before and 2 years after the introduction of the ITA programme – neither in aspects that were related to the programme nor in those that were unrelated to the programme. Discussion This study demonstrates that the introduction of a structured ITA programme did not have any significant effect on trainees' mean level of confidence on a broad range of aspects of clinical competence. The importance of timeliness and rigorousness in the application of ITA is discussed.