Guidance Notes
This type of assessment is designed as an aid to learning operative skills. It provides a platform to record the current level of performance and structuring feedback. It should supplement the logbook numbers and demonstrate progression across a wide range of procedures.
Please follow these steps to complete the assessment form. It is designed to be completed with your trainer immediately after the procedure while it is fresh in your mind:
- Set the procedure: Start typing the procedure name and select the correct procedure from the list. All elogbook proedures are on the site.
- Set the assessor: Start typing the assessor's name and select from the list. If they have not already registered, click on 'Add New Assessor'.
- Set the date of the procedure.
- Set the complexity of the procedure. If compled, explain why the procedure was complex in the free text below.
- Use the slider to mark the percentage of the procedure undertaken by the trainee. This refers to the whole procedure, including preoperative planning and patient positioning. To help make an estimate, think about the approach and any key steps in this procedure.
- Describe the steps undertaken. This is useful when comparing assessments and planning which steps should be taught in future procedures.
- Give a global rating for the trainee’s performance of the parts of the procedure that s/he performed. Try to be as unbiased as possible for this rating and not to take into account the trainee’s year of training when drawing conclusions. See below for more detailed descriptions of the global ratings.
- Specify the level of supervision for the procedure.
- Highlight areas of good performance that should continue to maintain the rating given. Also, mention areas of excellence.
- Give specific advice for areas to improve next time the procedure is undertaken. This may mean performing the procedure more independently, or performing more steps of the same procedure. The trainee should complete the feedback boxes first before discussion with their trainer. Entries can then be discussed and added to or modified in conjunction with the trainer to reach a consensus for areas of good practice and suggestions for improvement. This allows trainees to practise self-assessment and trainers to assess insight.
- In the final box, record any special events, such as complications or unexpected steps. Focus on what happened and what was learned from the experience.
Global Rating Scale
The global rating scale is designed to allow discrimination between levels of performance as a procedure is learned. Not all levels will be applicable to all procedures and in that situation, we recommend exercising some discretion to select the most appropriate rating.
We would like to clarify the ratings to aid discrimination when selecting a global rating:
- 1a. Able to assist, with guidance: Trainee requires prompting to assist.
- 1b. Able to assist, without guidance: Trainee is able to anticipate lead surgeon's moves without guidance, demonstrating an awareness of the steps of the procedure.
- 2a. Guidance for most / all of procedure: Guidance required for most / all steps that require a surgical decision to be made. This is an important part of learning the stepwise progression of a procedure, and getting a 'feel' for it.
- 2b. Guidance for key steps only:Most procedures have a limited number of particularly important steps or intra-operative decisions. The trainee requires guidance at these stages only.
- 3a. Procedure performed with minimal guidance: Guidance is required only for a subset of key steps, or all intra-operative decisions are made by the trainee and just require confirmation.
- 3b. Procedure performed with no guidance:Trainee did not require any guidance to perform the procedure.
- 4a. Procedure performed to a high standard:The procedure was performed to a high standard with no guidance. Use the boxes below to specify why performance was particularly good.
- 4b. Able to anticipate, avoid and/or resolve common problems: Procedure performed with no guidance. Trainee identified potential complications and how they were avoided. If a complication occurred, it was addressed by the trainee.