What Shape is Your Resident in? Using a Radar Plot to Guide a Milestone Clinical Competency Discussion

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Competency-Based Assessment

Background:

• Program directors face challenges managing vast amounts of resident assessment data.
• The modern Milestone era necessitates efficient methods for evaluating trainee progress.
• Visualizing complex assessment data is crucial for effective feedback and monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the utility of radar plots (RPs) for sorting and graphically representing resident assessment data.
• To determine if RPs can aid program directors in identifying areas of resident weakness.
• To assess if RPs can differentiate residents with and without recent remedial issues.

Main Methods:

• A predetermined ranking and weighting method was applied to 16 surgical Milestones using at least two assessment types per Milestone.
• Data were compiled into a computerized workbook (Excel) to generate unique 16-spoked RPs for each resident.
• The study compared the RPs of residents with and without recent remedial issues to validate the tool's effectiveness.

Main Results:

• Eight of 30 residents exhibited significant concavities on their RPs, indicating potential areas for improvement.
• Residents undergoing recent remediation had a lower average performance/expectation ratio (0.616) compared to those without remediation (0.723, p < 0.009).
• Radar plots visually distinguished residents with remedial needs from their peers.

Conclusions:

• Radar plots serve as a valuable evaluation summary tool for program directors.
• RPs can facilitate discussions on clinical competency and track resident progress over time.
• This visual method aids in navigating the complexities of competency-based evaluation systems.