Resident Performance Evaluation and Feedback

We view the formative assessment process as the primary mechanism for supporting residents’ attainment of more advanced levels of competence through learning and performance improvement. Therefore, we incorporate multiple strategies as part of the ongoing formative assessment process. These include creating an Individualized Development Plan (IDP), receiving informal supervisory feedback and participating in a 360-degree assessment and devising an associated action plan. The summative process, while designed to serve as an endpoint or outcome measurement, is also intended to enhance residents’ competence. This summative assessment process occurs twice per year (six months, one year) unless a resident is manifesting problems of professional competence. It includes the following strategies supervisors’ assessment using the Competency Assessment Tool, Self-Assessment using the Competency Assessment Tool and assessment by the residents’ supervisees using the Graduate Student Supervisee Assessment of Postdoctoral Resident as Supervisor Form. Data from these three assessments are discussed during each summative assessment meeting. For more detail about the program’s formative and summative assessment processes, please refer to the Emory University School of Medicine Postdoctoral Residency Program in Health Service Psychology Handbook.

At the summative assessment points, the residents provide feedback about their supervisors using the Postdoctoral Residency Supervisor Assessment Form. They also provide formal feedback on the postdoctoral residency seminar and their overall experience as postdoctoral residents. In addition to these two formal evaluation periods, informal and verbal feedback is ongoing.

At the beginning of the training year, all postdoctoral residents are provided with Grievance and Due Process Procedures. This document: (1) describes the program’s responsibilities and residents’ rights and expectations for their performance; (2) defines competence and competence problems; (3) delineates informal and formal actions that may be taken if the program has concerns about a trainee’s performance; and (5) discusses informal and formal procedures for grievances that are initiated by a resident. For more detailed information, see the program’s Grievance and Due Process Guidelines and Procedures.