Faculty development effects on clerkship grades.

BACKGROUND: Faculty member assessment of clerkship students' clinical performance has been noted as a consistently problematic issue within most medical student clerkships, and thus a worthy target of faculty development. One of the primary challenges in such faculty development is creating a change that improves the clinical assessment of students in a meaningful way.

METHOD: In the current study we evaluated the effects of a pair of brief interventions designed to facilitate greater use of the 'Not observed' option in faculty member assessments of clerkship students (as opposed to use of 'Meets expectations' for skills actually not observed by the rater) within a psychiatry rotation for third-year medical students in the USA.

RESULTS: The intervention demonstrated statistically significant effects, both intentional and unintentional. Specifically, faculty members rated themselves as having increased their own understanding and confidence regarding the use of the assessment forms after the intervention. With regard to actual ratings of clerkship students, faculty members were less likely to use the 'Not observed' option after the intervention. Also, the mean rating increased slightly, and to a greater degree than could be explained entirely by the shift away from using 'Meets expectations' when 'Not observed' was more appropriate. Faculty member assessment of … students' clinical performance [is] a consistently problematic issue DISCUSSION: Results are discussed with regards to suggestions for implementation of the intervention in other programmes, specifically with regard to proposed improvements and issues to consider and monitor.