Narrative Assessments

Policy Statement

The Emory University School of Medicine sets the expectations and guidelines for providing students with summative assessments by faculty (including written narratives) that describe and evaluate student performance. This policy also defines the criteria for courses in the Emory School of Medicine MD Program in which narrative, summative assessment of medical student performance is required.

Reason for Policy

Narrative assessment of medical student performance provides robust information that is a component of student assessment and is used to evaluate students' progress toward graduation and residency placement. This policy ensures that EUSOM meets the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) MD program accreditation requirements expressed in Element 9.5.

Policy Text

All medical students receive narrative, summative assessments in courses and clerkships during which the student-instructor interaction lends itself to meaningful written statements that evaluate the student's knowledge, skills, behaviors, and/or attitudes in comparison to the approved course/clerkship standards. The narrative assessments are made available to students via the Emory OASIS platform or through other mechanisms. In the Foundations phase of the Curriculum, narrative, summative assessment is provided in the following courses:

• Essentials of Patient Care – preceptor assessments for the Outpatient Experience component of this course.

In the Application and Translation phases of the curriculum, narrative, summative assessment is provided by all required clerkships except for the longitudinal radiology clerkship. In the Discovery phase of the curriculum, narrative, summative assessment is provided and accessible to students following "Research Day," which marks the end of the Discovery course.

Policy Oversight

During regular reviews of each course in the Foundations phase, the Foundations Subcommittee of the Executive Curriculum Committee will determine the appropriateness of narrative, summative assessments in terms of LCME expectations. The Required Clerkships Subcommittee of the Executive Curriculum Committee will annually review compliance with this policy for each required clerkship in the Application and Translation phases of the curriculum and will ensure that all clerkships meet the expectations of this policy. The Discovery and Medical Scholarship Subcommittee of the Executive Curriculum Committee will annually review completion of narrative, summative assessments of students in the Discovery course and will ensure that it complies with the expectations of this policy.

Definitions

Narrative: a written description and evaluation of student performance.
Summative Assessment: An assessment that evaluates student performance as compared to a standard or benchmark.

Responsibilities

During the Foundations phase, each course director, in consultation with the Foundations and Student Assessment Subcommittees of the Executive Curriculum Committee, are responsible for determining if a preclinical course includes faculty-student interaction that permits narrative assessment. The director is also responsible for implementing a process of providing narrative assessment, when appropriate. During the Application and Translation phases, clerkship directors are responsible for ensuring that each student receives a narrative, summative assessment of performance. During the Discovery phase, the Discovery course Director is responsible for ensuring that each student receives a narrative, summative assessment of performance.