HP 223 Clinical Teaching & Evaluation of Clinical Competence

In light of the consensus statement and recommendation from the Ottawa 2010 Conference, the current assessment strategy employed by the clinical teacher for PT interns in the burn unit presents several challenges. The validity of the assessment may be compromised as the teacher struggles to observe and evaluate all necessary competencies. The reliability is questionable because the teacher completes the checklist retrospectively, which can introduce recall bias. Although the checklist is a standardized tool, its length makes it impractical for use during rounds, indicating feasibility issues. Also, the educational impact of assessment is lessened by the use of group feedback sessions, which cannot replace the personalized feedback that interns need for optimal learning. The acceptability of the assessment process is also a concern since the grading seems lenient, given that no intern has failed in the past year.