Workplace-based assessment as an educational tool: Guide supplement 31.3 – Viewpoint

Workplace-based assessments (WBAs) are being increasingly used during postgraduate medical training as a method of assessing competence. Southgate (1999) defined competence in a doctor as being ‘composed of cognitive, interpersonal skills, moral and personality attributes. It is in part the ability, in part the will, to consistently select and perform relevant clinical tasks in the context of the social environment in order to resolve health problems of individuals in an efficient, effective economic and humane manner’. There was previously a concern that trainees were infrequently observed, assessed and given feedback during their workplace-based education. This has led to an increasing interest in a variety of formative assessment methods that require observation and offer the opportunity for feedback (Norcini & Burch 2007). There are many methods including direct observation of procedural skills (DOPS), mini-clinical evaluation exercises (mini-CEX) and case-based discussions (CBD). These methods are used in ophthalmology, for example, where the curriculum for ophthalmic specialty training consists of 180 defined learning outcomes in 13 domains of clinical practice, each of which can be mapped to the General Medical Council’s (GMC) description of good medical practice.