Dialogue Volume 10 Issue 2 2014 | Page 17

ASSESSORS’ CONFERENCE “Think of yourself as a coach” Assessors brainstorm ways to help physicians get the most out of assessments M ore than 300 of our physician-assessors showed up to a brainstorming session to discuss ways of ensuring that Ontario’s physicians can get optimal benefit from their assessments. “We are opening up the peer assessment process in a way that we never have before,” Mr. Wade Hillier, director of the College’s Quality Management division, told the attendees at the April conference. “This is an exciting time of re-invention. And to make the assessment process the best that it can be, we need to hear your thoughts and observations.” The College is engaged in a multi-year, cross-College initiative to create a common assessment model and continuous quality improvement strategy for all College physician assessments. This re-visioning project is currently focused on improving peer assessment. Assessors will be central to creating new assessment processes, tools and reporting formats, including the development of discipline-specific quality indicators. Assessors will also be trained to develop skills in facilitation, feedback and CPD coaching. There are five key goals to the peer assessment re-design, explained Mr. Hillier. It must be discipline-specific; Dr. Solomon Sogbein (left), and Dr. purpose-driven; Satish Rangaswamy, Peer Assessors consistent; relevant; and lastly, it must be transparent so that any physician can readily see how the peer assessment program defines and evaluates quality. Assessors from the Geriatric Medicine Network Group: Dr. K. Jennifer Ingram (Network Lead), Dr. Nicole Didyk and Dr. Barbara Power Dr. Kevin Imrie, a former College assessor and President-elect of the Royal College of P