The Red Book - The College of Family Physicians Canada

STANDARD B.6: ASSESSMENT OF RESIDENT PERFORMANCEThere must be an effective in-training assessment program in place that helps the resident, thepreceptors, and the program plan, and that monitors the progress of individual residentsthroughout their training towards the achievement of the competence expected for the start ofindependent practice. This competence is defined as demonstrating competence in the sixessential skill dimensions and the phases of the clinical encounter, throughout the sevenCanMEDS-FM roles, over a sufficient sample of the priority topics, themes, core procedures,and competencies, as defined by the evaluation objectives and CanMEDS-FM.General Considerations1. The in-training assessment system must be competency-based and mainly formative innature, with honest, helpful, and timely feedback provided to each resident. It should not bepunitive. Emphasis should be placed on gradually achieving mastery in the requiredcompetencies. Assessment and feedback must lead to guided self-assessment, reflection, andrevision of learning plans as necessary.2. Assessment and feedback must not be limited to the end of an activity or a clinicalexperience. They must occur frequently, at least by the middle of a placement, in time forbehaviour change to occur, and, ideally, on a daily basis or immediately after an activity,whenever pertinent. Periodic reviews and summative assessments based on all thedocumented assessments available at the time must be completed. These must include faceto-facemeetings with the resident to review and discuss their progress, both regularly andwhen a specific need arises.3. Assessment and feedback must be documented and reflect resident performance withrespect to the competencies in question. Although both qualitative and quantitative datashould be documented, the emphasis should be on the former.4. All pertinent activities, both clinical and non-clinical, should be assessed, and theassessment should be specific to the activities, clearly reflecting the competency objectives offamily medicine. The level of performance expected for each activity should be clearlydefined and clearly understood by both the resident and the preceptor-assessor. Themethods to be used for assessment must also be clearly defined and mutually understood.23