How ratings vary by staff group in multi-source feedback assessment of junior doctors.

Context: UK doctors-in-training undergo assessments of their professional behaviours. From an analysis of multi-source feedback (MSF) data, we report how ratings of junior doctors (Foundation Programme [FP] doctors and senior house officers [SHOs]) differed by staff group.

Methods: The MSF data were collected in 2003 and 2005 in hospitals in the West Midlands.

Developing a joint GP vocational training scheme and paediatric modular teaching programme: the way forward.

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN IN THIS AREA • GP VTS trainees normally attend separate GP teaching programmes from SHOs in specialty posts. • Specialty teaching programmes have been hospital orientated and lacking in primary care relevance. WHAT THIS WORK ADDS • This joint GP/paediatric course was highly rated by both GP and paediatric trainees.

Appraisal of doctors: problems with terminology and a philosophical tension.

The term appraisal lacks useful definition. It is used to describe both the summative assessment which forms part of performance management, as well as an educational process sometimes referred to as formative assessment. In this analysis we trace the purpose of each of these components as applied to career grade doctors.