Module 10: General Principles of Evaluation

Rating Non-performance attributes

Background: Taking into account non-performance attributes in the evaluation process takes two common forms. Evaluation bias may occur when an evaluator allows issues outside of the professional environment to influence his/her evaluation. Evaluation bias may also be introduced when exceptional performance in one area "spills over" to ratings in other areas. Consider the resident who has clearly demonstrated mastery of the fund of medical knowledge but who is not supportive of his/her intern, or is abrasive when dealing with patients. This resident's evaluation should reflect poor performance on the professionalism, interpersonal skill and communication competencies and good performance on medical knowledge.

Strategies to reduce error:

• Use the entire scale (1-9) and each item within the evaluation tool (mastery of medical knowledge, patient care, professionalism, etc) to accurately reflect the learner's performance.
• Base the evaluation on direct observations of the items to be considered in the evaluation.