Louisa Ng¹
Jacob Kuek¹, Simone Elliot¹ and Kate Reid¹
1 University Of Melbourne 

Workplace-based assessments (WBA) were introduced into medical training a few decades ago in recognition of the relationship between assessment and learning and in response to concerns about the workplace-based training of doctors. The increasing use of WBA has highlighted the importance of strategies for successful and sustainable implementation of such assessment. With the introduction of any novel assessments, user acceptability and engagement is key to continued success. 

At the University of Melbourne (UoM), two broad categories of WBAs were developed for the final year students (approx. 350 in a cohort) in 2022 – global perception WBA and skill-based WBA, based on the anticipated introduction of Entrustable Professional Activities for junior doctors by the Australian Medical Council. For successful and sustainable implementation of the WBAs, it is important to assess stakeholder experience of the WBAs – these stakeholders include the students themselves but also supervising staff. 

Final year UoM medical students and supervisory staff members will be recruited for this mixed-methodsstudy. Anonlinesurveywillbesenttoallfinalyearmedicalstudentstocollect quantitative data and free-text comments on students’ experience of WBA. Survey questions will be derived from similar studies and from past UoM evaluations. 

Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with final year students (n=10-15) and staff (n=10-15). Participants will be invited to discuss their perceptions of WBA and the impact of their experience on student learning. Interviews with individuals will be continued until data saturation occurs. The experience of WBA will be explored through thematic analysis. 

This study is currently awaiting ethics approval and is anticipated to occur in the second half of 2023. Results will be presented at the Ottawa conference. 

References (maximum three) 

Norcini, J., & Burch, V. (2007). Workplace-based assessment as an educational tool: AMEE Guide No. 31. In Medical Teacher (Vol. 29, Issues 9–10, pp. 855–871). https://doi.org/10.1080/01421590701775453 

Massie, J., & Ali, J. M. (2016). Workplace-based assessment: a review of user perceptions and strategies to address the identified shortcomings. In Advances in Health Sciences Education (Vol. 21, Issue 2, pp. 455–473). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-015- 9614-0