Involving ophthalmology departmental stakeholders in developing workplace-based assessment tools

As competency-based medical education (CBME) rolls out across Canada, the assessment process is changing. Our purpose was to involve stakeholders in the selection and modification of workplace-based assessment (WBA) tools for use in an ophthalmology residency program.

This is a qualitative case study conducted in one ophthalmology department at a midsized teaching hospital in eastern Ontario.

Ophthalmology faculty and residents within the Emergency Eye Clinic participated in the study.

Phase 1 consisted of faculty piloting the tools and providing written feedback. Phase 2 consisted of 2 focus groups, 1 for residents (n = 9) and 1 for faculty (n = 6), to explore their experiences with the 4 piloted adapted WBA tools.

Residents and faculty discussed ongoing issues with buy-in and formalizing feedback through the new assessment process. Residents also reiterated the need for more constructive feedback delivered in a timely and sensitive manner. Generally, residents did not value numerical scales on the tools and preferred written comments. Both residents and faculty valued oral over written feedback given the interactive nature of oral feedback.

This study provides insight into faculty and resident perspectives about WBA tools within one ophthalmology department. These results informed the development of WBA tools within the department and highlighted the importance of shifting the assessment culture to accommodate programmatic approaches to assessment in CBME. Involving key stakeholders in the change process has been a valuable strategy. Future research should examine whether or not these perspectives change after CBME implementation.