Every six months, the GP trainee will meet with their trainer or
educational supervisor to complete an interim review of progress.
Evidence collected is reviewed, a self-assessment conducted and the
trainee’s progress assessed by the trainer in each of the twelve
competence areas. Towards the end of training, a final review is
conducted, this time without the trainee’s self-assessment.
Successful completion requires achievement in each of the twelve
professional competence areas. The trainer makes a recommendation to
the deanery regarding the competence of the trainee. A failure to
reach the standard will trigger a review by an expert deanery panel,
which will make decisions and recommendations as to whether the
workplace-based assessment has been completed satisfactorily.
Curriculum coverage
Episodes of learning that are rich in knowledge, such as those that
may arise from tutorials, will not be assessed, but will allow
trainees and educators to monitor how the knowledge base of the
curriculum is being covered in preparation for the Applied Knowledge
Test.
Skills
A technical skills log records assessment by DOPS building on those
examination and procedural skills acquired in Foundation.
Professional Competences
Progression across the twelve competence areas is recorded at
regular, evidenced, staging reviews. These areas have been
identified as those areas of professional practice that are best
tested in the workplace. The areas, although derived from the RCGP
curriculum, do not represent general practice in its entirety and
should not be treated as a comprehensive curriculum for professional
training.
Each area has been defined in terms of developmental word pictures
that reflect increasing expertise:
(I) Insufficient evidence
From the available evidence, the doctor’s performance cannot be placed on a higher point of this developmental scale.
(N) Needs further development
Rigid adherence to taught rules or plans. Superficial grasp of unconnected facts. Unable to apply knowledge. Little situational perception or discretionary judgement.
(C) Competent
Accesses and applies coherent and appropriate chunks of knowledge. Able to see actions in terms of longer-term goals. Demonstrates conscious and deliberate planning with increased level of efficiency. Copes with crowdedness and able to prioritise.
(E) Excellent
Intuitive and holistic grasp of situations. No longer relies on rules or maxims. Identifies underlying principles and patterns to define and solve problems. Relates recalled information to the goals of the present situation and is aware of the conditions for application of that knowledge.
The ePortfolio
The evidence for WPBA will be recorded in a web-based eportfolio.
The eportfolio is much more than an electronic record of specialist
training, updated and accessible through the internet, it records
details of achievement in the Applied Knowledge Test and Clinical
Skills Assessment, and documents all stages of training, records
evidence of WPBA, reviews with educational supervisors and the
subsequent development as a General Practitioner.
A record of personal development and experience is becoming
mandatory for all doctors. It provides evidence that training has
taken place and allows the GP trainee to reflect on a range of
learning opportunities. The WPBA is defined as the evaluation of a
doctor’s progress in their performance over time, in those areas of
professional practice best tested in the workplace.
Workplace-based assessment brings together teaching, learning and
assessment. Trainees will know what is expected of them and will
have the opportunity to demonstrate attainment over time in a
variety of contexts. The assessment recorded in the ePortfolio will
be drawn from performance and evaluation taking place in the real
situations in which doctors work. It also allows competency in areas
such as team-working to be appraised in a manner which cannot be
done by the AKT and the CSA.
Many tools will be completed on-line without the contributor having
to enter the ePortfolio. Writing to many parts of the ePortfolio
will be limited to the trainer or educational supervisor. The
personal section of the ePortfolio will be hidden to all except the
GP trainee.
The AKT and CSA must be passed before the ePortfolio can be signed
off as a complete record of GP training and a recommendation of
certification (CCT), inclusion in the General Medical Council’s GP
Register and applying for
membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners.