|
Competency Perspective on Teaching
- Teaching and Learning Strategies are Focused on Fostering the Learners’ Ability To Self-Assess
It is essential that residents become good judges of their own competence. It is generally accepted that individuals learn to judge their own performance in a number of ways, but most often by comparing their own abilities to some external standard and then internalizing that standard. A standard may be written objectives (as in the competencies) or, more powerfully, may be the skilled performance of influential and credible role models.
- By developing learning and performance standards from the competencies, and by communicating those standards to residents, faculty provide a more objective basis for resident self-assessment.
- When residents observe the skilled practice of experienced clinicians, they may or may not understand the thought process that guided that action. When experienced clinicians reflect on their decision making, however, residents are more likely to truly understand the actions of their teachers, to model that behavior, and to eventually establish appropriate standards. Without these types of discussions, residents remain uncertain about their observations and gain less from the interactions.
- By providing feedback to residents and encouraging them to reflect on their own clinical behavior, residents will become better judges of their own abilities. Although the attending physician is the usual source for feedback, nurses, peers and patients through a 360° evaluation can provide other insights into residents’ performance and so potentially affect the internal standards set.
|
