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Two sides of the same coin? How quality improvement can be used to augment program evaluation in health professions education to promote social accountability
  • Allison Brown,
  • Lawrence Grierson
Allison Brown
University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Lawrence Grierson
McMaster University Faculty of Health Sciences
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Abstract

Health professions education is in constant pursuit of new ways of teaching and assessment in order to improve the training of healthcare professionals. Educators are often challenged with designing, implementing, and evaluating programs in the context of their professional practice, particularly those in response to dynamic and emerging social needs. This article explores the synergies and intersections of two approaches -- quality improvement and program evaluation -- and the potential utility of their combinations within our field to design, evaluate, and most importantly, improve educational programming. We argue that the inclusion of established quality improvement frameworks within program evaluation provides a proven mechanism for driving change, can optimize programming within the multi-contextual education systems, and, ultimately, that these two approaches are complementary to one another. These combinations hold great promise for optimizing programming in alignment with social missions, where it has been difficult for institutions worldwide to generate and capture evidence of social accountability.
01 Apr 2021Submitted to Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice
07 Apr 2021Submission Checks Completed
07 Apr 2021Assigned to Editor
09 Apr 2021Reviewer(s) Assigned
20 May 2021Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
20 May 2021Editorial Decision: Revise Major
29 Jun 20211st Revision Received
30 Jun 2021Submission Checks Completed
30 Jun 2021Assigned to Editor
30 Jun 2021Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
30 Jun 2021Editorial Decision: Accept