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Workplace‐based assessment for international medical graduates: at what cost?
Author(s) -
Nair Balakrishnan Kichu R,
Searles Andrew M,
Ling Rod I,
Wein Julie,
Ingham Kathy
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/mja13.10849
Subject(s) - activity based costing , cohort , total cost , business , health economics , cost effectiveness , medical costs , medicine , medical education , operations management , health care , nursing , engineering , marketing , accounting , public health , economics , risk analysis (engineering) , economic growth
Objective: To estimate the cost of resources required to deliver a program to assess international medical graduates (IMGs) in Newcastle, Australia, known as the Workplace Based Assessment (WBA) Program. Design and setting: A costing study to identify and evaluate the resources required and the overheads of delivering the program for a cohort of 15 IMGs, based on costs in 2012. Main outcome measures: Labour‐related costs. Results: The total cost in 2012 for delivering the program to a typical cohort of 15 candidates was $243 384. This equated to an average of $16 226 per IMG. After allowing for the fees paid by IMGs, the WBA Program had a deficit of $153 384, or $10 226 per candidate, which represents the contribution made by the health system. Conclusion: The cost per candidate to the health system of this intensive WBA program for IMGs is small.