Practice Self-Assessment

Section 3: Assessment Activity

3 credits per hour

Rationale and Target Audience:

Practice Self-Assessment is an opportunity for you to evaluate an area of your practice, across a variety of CanMEDS Roles, that you would like to improve. This type of self-assessment is not only for clinical setting and skills, but can be completed for all practice settings (e.g. clinical, academic, administrative, etc.).

Guidelines: Practice Self-Assessment

 GuidelineActionExample
1Identify an area of your practice to assessChoose an area of your practice to assess.

I would like to:

  • Assess how I complete my patient charts before I hand them over to my colleague.
2Identify performance question(s)Identify specific performance question(s) you have about this area of practice (e.g. ability to communicate with patient(s), maintaining up-to-date charts, etc.).

My specific question is:

  • When I handover my patients’ charts are they clear and complete?
3Select one to three professional standards or criteriaSelect one to three criteria/standards to compare your performance against (e.g., hospital guidelines, teamwork expectations, patient metrics, provincial performance data, etc.).

I will compare how I currently complete my patient charts against:

  • The hospital’s standards for chart filling.
  • Review a peer’s charts that are always successfully completed.
4Assess your performanceCollect data on your performance from one or more sources (e.g., chart reviews, interviews, peer review and feedback, patient surveys, etc.).

The data sources that I will use to learn more about my current performance:

  • Interviews with peers
  • Review my peers’ charts
5Compare your current performance with the standards:Review and analyze the data you collected about your performance in guideline #4 and compare it to the guidelines selected in guideline #3. This will help you identify gaps and learning opportunities.

My current performance vs. Existing standards:

  • My colleagues often have to ask me for more information regarding my patients’ charts (the current guidelines indicate that all parts of the charts must be completed).
6Discuss your findings with trusted peer(s)Share and discuss your findings with trusted colleagues, peers, or mentors to get input and feedback on the gaps/opportunities you identified and plan for next steps.

I will collect and review feedback from:

  • Colleagues
7Identify the next steps for practice improvementUse the data and feedback you collected on your performance to identify the actions you will take to close the gap between your current performance (guideline #4) and your desired performance (guideline #5) (e.g. additional learning, modifications to a practice process etc.).

The self-assessment of my practice identified that:

  • I need to relay information more clearly and I have to complete the patient charts with more care.

Next steps:

  • Step 1: for the next 3 months, my colleague will review some of my charts for completion and clarity, before I do a handover.
  • Step 2: I will re-survey my colleagues after six months to measure my progress (e.g. ensure that I’ve made and sustained the improvements).
8Document this process and the outcomes in your MAINPORT ePortfolioTime spent on guidelines # 1 through #7 can be claimed under Section 3: Practice Assessment.I spent 2 hours reviewing the feedback received from my colleague, and I created a plan of action for improvement. I will claim this activity in my MAINPORT account under Section 3: Practice Assessment

REFLECTION:

  1. What aspect(s) did you perform well?
  2. What aspect(s) are recommended for improvement?
  3. What specific actions (including additional CPD) are you planning to complete to respond to the feedback you received?
  4. What pleased you from the data and feedback you received?
  5. What challenges, if any, do you anticipate in implementing these plans for improvement?
  6. What measures would enable you determine if the planned changes are successful?
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Use your reflections on these (or other similar questions) to record the outcomes on the feedback you received from a peer, colleague or health professional.

To claim MOC credit for this assessment activity, visit MAINPORT and complete the fields under Section 3: Practice Assessment for 3 credits per hour.