As I mentioned in a previous post – ‘As people learn, they gain both knowledge and skills (and attitudes). A person’s knowledge can usually be assessed through tests and exams but skills are far more difficult to assess. Skills assessment, especially in medical education, is very challenging because it involves people helping people in a domain that is very complex and sensitive.
Training programs, learners, and the public all want to ensure that learners get the depth and breadth of hands-on experience they need to be ready for the next stage in their career and be skillful practitioners.’
We have come to the conclusion, based on our experience and continued discussions with medical experts, that Teacher-Observed Competence (also known as Workplace Based Assessment (WBA)) is a superior method of measuring competence when compared to other known methods such as using counts.
While there are some challenges that arise when implementing this method such as, engaging faculty in the process and ensuring the quality of the feedback remains high. There are many benefits that can be witnessed long term.
This post will discuss 3 ways that Teacher Observed Competence Increases After Graduation Success Rates.
1 They Are More Appealing To Employers.
A lot of regulatory nightmares and threats to patient and employee health can be linked back to a lack of competence. Unlike models that use counts, Teacher-Observed Competence is designed around clearly-defined learning outcomes and standards of mastery that are measured by knowledgeable practitioners. Ensuring that learners who graduate are not just good test takers who have logged enough hours.
Graduates who come from programs that use Teacher-Observed Competence are able to use their reports and evaluations to provide future employers with the assurance that a knowledgeable practitioner has confirmed their depth and breadth of experience and that any gaps in their learning have been discovered and addressed prior to graduation. Employers can also feel confident knowing that the graduate has performed each fundamental technical skill to a high standard.
In comparison, students who are assessed using counts can demonstrate that they have performed the technical skill a set number of times but are unable to prove the standard of mastery they have achieved.
2 – Non-Technical Skills are Improved
According to Diane Johnson | President and CEO, New Charter University “Successful competency-based educational models inherently foster the development of higher-order critical thinking, problem-solving, organization, innovation, and communication skills.”
Teacher-observed competence methods provide preceptors with the opportunity to give in-depth feedback on all elements of a learners interaction with their patients and peers. Shifting the focus from just assessing a skill to assessing the learner as a whole. Through teacher evaluations, guidance can be provided to students who need to improve their bedside manner or soft skills.
The continuous feedback, self-evaluations and direct communication with teachers fostered through teacher-observed competence also help learners naturally develop their communication skills, ability to accept feedback and support, as well as their leadership abilities.
3 – Increased Learner Confidence & Self Awareness
It is common knowledge that stress levels amongst medical residents run high. Quite often a lot of the stress comes from students not feeling confident with their skills which can be a direct result of lack of transparency, feedback, and encouragement.
By encouraging learners to self-evaluate, record their activities, request regular feedback and communicate more freely with their Preceptors, you will give them the power and confidence they need to self-direct their own learning.
Additionally, self-evaluations can help preceptors ensure that their evaluation of each learner aligns with the learner’s vision of themselves. Learners who lack confidence can easily be identified through their low self-evaluations and addressed before it becomes a problem.
On the flip side students who are overconfident and not aware of their personal limitations can also be identified and receive a more accurate sense of their strengths and weaknesses.
As a software provider that sees the benefits of teacher observed competency first-hand through the program directors who use our T-Res Student Evaluation & Assessment software we will continue to advocate for improved competency and learner outcomes.
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