Evaluation of Course Content and Teacher Effectiveness in Psychiatric Residencies as Viewed by Program Chief Residents

Abstract

The author reports the results of a survey of chief residents of psychiatric training programs utilized to assess the existence, perceived value, and mechanisms by which residents evaluate their own training experience. A useable return rate of 75.1 percent was obtained. In that group, slightly over 25 percent of the programs reported that no mechanism existed to evaluate teacher effectiveness. In addition, 19.5 percent reported that there was no mechanism to evaluate course content. Slightly over 15 percent of the responding programs reported comprehensive evaluation techniques utilizing oral exams, self-assessment exams, or on-site evaluation techniques in addition to the highly used questionnaire format. The absence of evaluating mechanisms and the apparent superficial quality of a percentage of other programs is used as information corroborating the difficulty of the task and indicating an area needing assistance in developing valid and effective evaluation techniques.