Assessment and Evaluation

A close-up still life of a stethoscope resting on a stack of medical textbooks, next to a digital tablet displaying a medical learning app, soft golden light, wooden desk.

Here is a collection of episodes thar cover Assessment.

Episodes

Key points episode 25

  • Examines the implementation of a formative workplace-based assessment (WBA) tool in clinical clerkships during COVID-19.
  • Uses Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) to analyze how the WBA tool facilitated feedback.
  • Identifies challenges such as misinterpretation of the WBA as a summative tool.
  • Highlights design issues that impacted usability and adoption.
  • Discusses difficulties in integrating the WBA tool into clinical workflows.
  • Emphasizes the need for clear communication and careful design in implementing formative assessment tools.

Key points episode 66

  • Explores factors influencing medical assessors in LMICs using a Health Behaviour Theory framework.
  • Investigates personal and contextual factors shaping assessment intentions and actions.
  • Highlights barriers like low self-efficacy, negative attitudes, and opportunity costs.
  • Examines the role of leadership, institutional support, and socio-cultural influences on assessment practices.
  • Finds that strong mentorship and training improve engagement in assessment.
  • Reveals that systemic constraints and competing priorities lead to assessment disengagement.
  • Emphasizes the need for targeted interventions to support assessors in resource-limited settings.

Key points episode 65

  • Emphasizes that mistakes—especially diagnostic errors—are common in medicine.
  • Highlights a growth mindset to view errors as opportunities for learning.
  • Introduces the Safety-I (error prevention) versus Safety-II (success replication) framework.
  • Outlines five lessons learned by hospitalists: excellence in clinical reasoning, connecting with patients and colleagues, reflective diagnostic processes, commitment to growth, and prioritizing self-care.
  • Suggests these insights can guide continuous improvement in clinical practice.

Key points episode 12

  • Questions whether workplace-based assessments (WBA) effectively capture clinical competence.
  • Explores the balance between fidelity—accurate, authentic assessments—and the risk of futility, where assessments may fail to yield meaningful improvement.
  • Critiques current WBA practices, highlighting potential misalignment between assessment goals and real-world outcomes.
  • Discusses the impact on learner development and the quality of feedback provided.
  • Suggests that rethinking and refining WBA methods could enhance their educational value in clinical training.

Key points episode 38

  • Investigates the impact of immediate vs. delayed feedback on learning in medical education.
  • A study on second-year medical students tested different feedback timings using multiple-choice questions.
  • Delayed feedback showed no significant advantage over immediate feedback in terms of performance.
  • Highlights the importance of knowledge retention and transfer for long-term learning.
  • Concludes that the timing of feedback may be less critical than previously believed, and practical factors should guide its delivery.

Key points episode 22

  • Focuses on the role of medical students in the feedback process during clinical training.
  • Explores how students’ feedback behaviors, such as seeking and utilizing feedback, influence their learning.
  • Introduces Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory and Triadic Reciprocal Causation to explain the interaction between student attributes, the learning context, and feedback behavior.
  • Finds that the student-teacher relationship is a central factor in feedback effectiveness.
  • Highlights the need for feedback literacy and student engagement in the feedback process.