observership-program-evaluation.doc

The importance of an accurate and honest Observership Program evaluation The program that your international medical graduate (IMG) observer has just completed will affect his/her career in many ways. Being able to function within the U.S. health care system and observing the delivery of care firsthand are invaluable experiences, but there are additional benefits tied to the quality of the evaluation you deliver. A thoughtful and honest evaluation can provide valuable feedback to the observer with respect to how his or her performance has been perceived. This will allow the observer to work on any areas of weakness or deficiency in a focused manner. Ideally, the observer should have received a brief formative evaluation midway through the observership in order to address such issues before receiving this final summative evaluation. At that time, they also should have been given a copy of this evaluation form to understand how and in what areas they will be evaluated. This evaluation can also provide program directors with critical information to help them narrow the large field of applicants they consider each year. For the Observership Program to have value and contribute meaningfully to the process of helping IMGs obtain positions in U.S. residency programs, however, evaluations must be accurate and not inflated. Therefore, it’s important to take a few moments after the weeks of hard work you and your assigned observer have completed, to provide an honest review that will serve these purposes. The list of knowledge and skills to be evaluated may look overwhelming at first but by working through each one and using the examples of behavior, this evaluation should be completed in five to 10 minutes. Thank you for taking the time to complete a fair and honest evaluation. Completing the Observership Program evaluation form Familiarize yourself with the descriptions of the Overall levels of performance (below): When reviewing each item, first determ