How Surgeons-in-training learn through WBA
Research type
Research Study
Full title
How do postgraduate surgeons-in-training learn through the use of workplace-based assessment? (Student study)
IRAS ID
237304
Contact name
Jeff Bezemer
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2018/04/105 social research, UCL Data Protection Registration Number
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
This is a research project aimed at improving workplace-based assessment (WBA) in surgical education.
WBA is used across medical training and involves a clinical teacher as an assessor observing an episode of patient care that the learner carries out as part of their practice. A pre-structured proforma acts as a template to facilitate learner/assessor dialogue, allowing for assessment of the performance and for feedback by the clinical teacher. Current research focuses on outcomes of WBAs (how well a learner performs) and user perception (how participants feel about WBAs). However, there is limited understanding of what actually happens during WBAs and no empirical basis for explaining outcomes, users’ perceptions or predicting the learning potential of these activities.
I aim to understand what WBAs look like in situ, what a surgeon-in-training (learner) identifies as having learnt from it and how they then respond to it in their future practice. To capture this data, learners will be invited to have a WBA audiovisually recorded in the clinical environment. WBAs are routine and commonplace in surgical training practices and would have been carried out as part of the learners’ day-to-day clinical education, regardless of this research taking place. They are not being organised specifically for this study, which aims, rather, to understand these already-occurring events.
Data will also be collected through non-participant observation of the WBA, from the learner’s completed WBA proforma and post-WBA interviews. Data will be analysed together to develop understanding of the processes and outcomes pertinent to answering my research questions.
The complex learning needs in surgery share parallels with other professions within healthcare and beyond. Surgical education therefore represents an important ‘telling case’ to explore workplace learning and assessment in greater detail. Insights gained could improve education practice and shed light on the potential of WBA in the broader workplace.
REC name
London - Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/1816
Date of REC Opinion
17 Oct 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion