Clinical skills verification, formative feedback, and psychiatry residency trainees

The authors describe the implementation of Clinical Skills Verification (CSV) in their program as an in-training assessment intended primarily to provide formative feedback to trainees, strengthen the supervisory experience, identify the need for remediation of interviewing skills, and secondarily to demonstrating resident competence for American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) certification in Psychiatry.

The authors review the background and context of the implementation of CSV, and describe how the experience is structured within their residency program.

The authors have embedded CSV experiences into clinical rotations across all years of residency training, aiming to complete 6-12 evaluations for each resident in each year. The authors provide training to faculty regarding supervision and formative feedback, including interrater reliability sessions for the CSV assessment.

Effective incorporation of the CSV assessment into regular clinical settings can improve clinical supervision, residents' training experience, and the field's ability to consistently produce qualified, competent psychiatrists.