Abstract
BackgroundCurrent postgraduate medical training programmes fall short regarding residents’ development of generic competencies (communication, collaboration, leadership, professionalism) and reflective and deliberate practice. Paying attention to these non-technical skills in a structural manner during postgraduate training could result in a workforce better prepared for practice. A development-oriented performance assessment (PA), which assists residents with assessment of performance and deliberately planned learning activities, could potentially contribute to filling this gap. This study aims to explore residents experiences with the PA.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative interview study with 16 residents from four different medical specialties who participated in the PA, scheduled halfway postgraduate training. The PA was conducted by an external facilitator, a psychologist, and focused specifically on professional development and career planning. Residents were interviewed 6 months after the PA. Data were analysed using the framework method for qualitative analysis.ResultsResidents found the PA to be of additional value for their training. The overarching merit was the opportunity to evaluate competencies not usually addressed in workplace-based assessments and progress conversations. In addition, the PA proved a valuable tool for assisting residents with reflecting upon their work and formulating their learning objectives and activities. Residents reported increased awareness of capacity, self-confidence and enhanced feelings of career-ownership. An important factor contributing to these outcomes was the relationship of trust with the facilitator and programme director.ConclusionThe PA is a promising tool in fostering the development of generic competencies and reflective and deliberate practice. The participating residents, facilitator and programme directors were able to contribute to a safe learning environment away from the busy workplace. The facilitator plays an important role by providing credible and informative feedback. Commitment of the programme director is important for the implementation of developmental plans and learning activities.
Highlights
Current postgraduate medical training programmes fall short regarding residents’ development of generic competencies and reflective and deliberate practice
Deliberate practice is defined as “highly structured activities explicitly directed at improvement of performance in a particular domain” and is associated with expert performance
Training programmes offer residents the opportunity to design postgraduate training according to their individual ambitions and achievements, either in a subspecialty or in specific professional ‘themes’ such as e.g. Medical Education, Management & Leadership or Patient Safety
Summary
Current postgraduate medical training programmes fall short regarding residents’ development of generic competencies (communication, collaboration, leadership, professionalism) and reflective and deliberate practice. Paying attention to these non-technical skills in a structural manner during postgraduate training could result in a workforce better prepared for practice. These professionals need to engage in lifelong learning and they need to possess the capacity to quickly adapt to changing circumstances [1] Both largely depend on: 1) the mastery of generic competencies (communication, collaboration, leadership, professionalism) and 2) the ability to reflect. In practice, workplace learning by residents and specialists is often reactive, implicit and mainly driven by patient care instead of directed by developmental learning goals and deliberately planned activities [4]
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