Mostafa Dehghani Poudeh
PhD candidate, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran
Title: An Assessment System for Pediatrics Residents
Biography
Biography: Mostafa Dehghani Poudeh
Abstract
With a programmatic approach to assessment, leading through teamwork, our pediatrics residency program evaluates and tracks its graduate learners towards an intended destination, Competent Pediatricians. It is accomplished through a well-structured and organized master plan implemented by a rigorous action plan. It consists of various assessment methods using quantitative rubrics as well as qualitative analyses. The prominent feature of such a system includes directing residents to predetermined milestones and entrustability levels in all levels of Miller’s pyramid. The aims and objectives are fulfilled by using concrete objective and narrative feed backs about the results of formal and informal evaluations within various clinical contexts and through daily encounters. All these venues provide rich data points good enough for reliable decisions which are certainly open to objections by residents. These objections are all considered and answered officially.
The other opportunity which makes our assessment system of good quality is a well-equipped clinical skills learning center (CSLC) which is the national center of excellence in learning clinical skills. This center has the roles of both planning and implementing the assessment plans for clinical and preclinical competencies. It is also the center that leads the national high stakes assessments which are mostly conducted electronically. As an instance I can point to recent Key Features examination which was centrally designed and conducted in our CSLC for all of pediatrics residents from all of medical universities.
However our assessment system has very improvement needs. One of them is mentoring the residents by clinical faculties. It is our next plan for upgrading the assessment system so that it could be more “for learning” than “of learning”. The next one includes the encouragement of our residents to be more “Feedback-Seekers” than “Grade-Hunters”. Of course the latter depends on the national rules and regulations for decision making about the graduate education system.