Career-long learning: relationship between cognitive and metacognitive skills

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Physician Development
• Metacognition in Healthcare

Background:

• Effective lifelong learning (LLL) for physicians requires metacognitive skills like reflection and goal generation.
• These essential skills are challenging to assess and may not align with traditional cognitive assessments.
• Understanding the relationship between metacognition, cognitive skills, and LLL orientation is vital for early-career physicians.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate metacognitive abilities in early-career physicians.
• To investigate the correlation between metacognitive skills, cognitive skills, and orientation toward lifelong learning.
• To identify potential gaps in metacognitive skill development and assessment.

Main Methods:

• Assessed metacognitive skills using the Reflective Ability Rubric (RAR) and SMART Goal Rubric (SMART-GR) on pediatric fellows' Individual Development Plans (IDPs).
• Collected cognitive skills data via American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) scores.
• Measured lifelong learning orientation using the Jefferson Scale (JeffSPLL).
• Employed Spearman's correlation to analyze the relationships between these measures.

Main Results:

• A significant correlation was found between RAR and SMART-GR scores, indicating a link between reflection and goal-setting abilities.
• Metacognitive measures (RAR, SMART-GR) did not show a significant correlation with cognitive skills (ABP scores).
• Physician orientation toward lifelong learning (JeffSPLL) did not predict their metacognitive skill levels.

Conclusions:

• Early-career physicians may exhibit limited metacognitive skills.
• Cognitive and metacognitive skills appear to be distinct and do not correlate in this cohort.
• Current lifelong learning orientation does not predict metacognitive proficiency, highlighting a need for targeted educational interventions.