Examiner training: A study of examiners making sense of norm-referenced feedback.

Examiner training has an inconsistent impact on subsequent performance. To understand this variation, we explored how examiners think about changing the way they assess. We provided comparative data to 17 experienced examiners about their assessments, captured their sense-making processes using a modified think-aloud protocol, and identified patterns by inductive thematic analysis.

Development and validation of a trustworthy multisource feedback instrument to support nurse appraisals.

Introduction: Nurse appraisal is well established in the Western world because of its obvious educational advantages. Appraisal works best with many sources of information on performance. Multisource feedback (MSF) is widely used in business and in other clinical disciplines to provide such information.

Addressing learner disorientation: give them a roadmap.

This article describes the problem of disorientation in students as they become doctors. Disorientation arises because students have a poor or inaccurate understanding of what they are training to become. If they do not know what they are becoming it is hard for them to prioritise and contextualise their learning, to make sense of information about where they are now (assessment and feedback) or to determine the steps they need to take to develop (formative feedback and "feedforward").

Implementing workplace-based assessment across the medical specialties in the United Kingdom.

Objectives: To evaluate the reliability and feasibility of assessing the performance of medical specialist registrars (SpRs) using three methods: the mini-clinical evaluation exercise (mini-CEX), directly observed procedural skills (DOPS) and multi-source feedback (MSF) to help inform annual decisions about the outcome of SpR training.

Methods: We conducted a feasibility study and generalisability analysis based on the application of these assessment methods and the resulting data. A total of 230 SpRs (from 17 specialties) in 58 UK hospitals took part from 2003 to 2004.

Improving the quality of outpatient clinic letters using the Sheffield Assessment Instrument for Letters (SAIL).

Aim: To improve the quality of outpatient letters used as communication between hospital and primary care doctors.

Methods: On 2 separate occasions, 15 unselected outpatient letters written by each of 7 hospital practitioners were rated by another hospital doctor and a general practitioner (GP) using the Sheffield Assessment Instrument for Letters (SAIL). Individualised feedback was provided to participants following the rating of the first set of letters.