In this month s column, John Langlois, MD, and Sarah Thach, MPH, of the Mountain Area Health Education Center in Asheville, NC, present practical information on learner evaluation in the office. References can be used but are not required. Count each table or figure as one page of text. Many preceptors find evaluation an unpleasant component of their community-based teaching.
Evaluation is, however, a critical function of teaching.
Evaluation helps assure that future clinicians possess appropriate knowledge, attitudes, and skills. Effective evaluation also helps a learner assess his or her strengths and weaknesses, identify strategies for improvement, and continue professional growth and development. When the evaluation process is fully integrated into the rotation, a student s learning experience is enhanced, and a difficult task for the preceptor is made easier and more effective. Finding out on the final day of the rotation about the student s expectations and perceived needs for a particular grade or evaluation on the rotation. Realizing at the final evaluation that, despite significant efforts on the preceptor s part, the learner s performance has remained substandard throughout the rotation and that he or she should not pass.