Developing Educational Goals and Objectives

1. Developing Educational Goals and Objectives W. Michael Southgate, M.D. Residency Program Director Department of Pediatrics 28 May 2010

2. Developing Educational Goals and Objectives • Objectives: at the end of this presentation the participants will be able to: • Define educational goals and objectives. • Contrast, and give specific examples of, goals and objectives. • Restate the ACGME Common Program Requirements for, and methods of assessment of, competency-based goals and objectives. • Compose an example of competency-based goals and objectives for a specific educational assignment in your program.

3. What does the ACGME expect? IV. Educational Program A. The curriculum must contain the following educational components: 1. Overall educational goals for the program, which the program must distribute to residents and faculty annually; 2. Competency-based goals and objectives for each assignment at each educational level, which the program must distribute to residents and faculty annually, in either written or electronic form. These should be reviewed by the resident at the start of each rotation;

4. What does the ACGME mean? Overall educational goals for the program “Overall program educational goals describe a general overview of what the program is intended to achieve. These create a framework for expectations on the part of residents, faculty, and others in the program, and should not be a ‘laundry list’ of learning objectives.” From: Program Director Guide to the Common Program Requirements https://www.acgme.org/acWebsite/navPages/commonpr_documents/IVA1234_EducationalProgram_CurriculumComponents_Explanation.pdf

5. What does the ACGME expect? IV. Educational Program A. The curriculum must contain the following educational components: 1. Overall educational goals for the program, which the program must distribute to residents and faculty annually; 2. Competency-based goals and objectives for each assignment at each educational level, which the program must distribute to residents and faculty annually, in either written or electronic form. These should be reviewed by the resident at the start of each rotation;

6. What does the ACGME mean? Competency-based goals and objectives for each assignmentat each educational level, which the program must distribute to residents and faculty annually, in either written or electronic form. These should be reviewed by the resident at the start of each rotation; “Assignment refers to each rotation, scheduled recurring sessions such as M&M conferences, journal club, grand rounds, simulated learning experience, lecture series, and required resident projects such as a quality improvement project that are not explicitly part of a recurring session or rotation.” From: Program Director Guide to the Common Program Requirements https://www.acgme.org/acWebsite/navPages/commonpr_documents/IVA1234_EducationalProgram_CurriculumComponents_Explanation.pdf

7. What does the ACGME mean? Competency-basedgoals and objectives for each assignment at each educational level, which the program must distribute to residents and faculty annually, in either written or electronic form. These should be reviewed by the resident at the start of each rotation; “Goal(s) communicate the general purpose and direction of the assignment. Objectives are the intended results of the instructional process or activity. They communicate to residents, faculty, and others involved the expected results in terms of resident outcomes and typically are the basis for items within evaluation instruments. “ From: Program Director Guide to the Common Program Requirements https://www.acgme.org/acWebsite/navPages/commonpr_documents/IVA1234_EducationalProgram_CurriculumComponents_Explanation.pdf

8. Goals and Objectives: another way of looking at them (shamelessly stolen from a presentation by Rob McGregor of St.Christopher’s Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia.) • Goals: general, big picture or even BHAd (Big Hairy Audacious Goals), often teacher-centered. • My goal today is to make all of you experts in developing goals and objectives for your residency programs. • BHAd: My ultimate goal is for the GME operation at MUSC to be seen as the standard for development of goals and objectives by the ACGME.

9. The Ultimate Big Picture Goal: My goal is simple. It is complete understanding of the universe." —Stephen Hawking

10. Goals and Objectives: another way of looking at them (shamelessly stolen from a presentation by Rob McGregor of St.Christopher’s Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia.) • Objectives: more specific, measureable, learner centered. • Words to use when developing objectives can fall into one of these four categories (gleefully borrowed from a presentation by Lynn Manfred): • Recall: Name, define, recognize, list, identify, describe, etc. • Analysis: Compare, separate, design, differentiate, classify, etc. • Synthesis: Propose, compose, solve, organize, relate, predict, etc. • Application: Apply, employ, illustrate, interpret, etc.

11. Goals and Objectives: another way of looking at them (shamelessly stolen from a presentation by Rob McGregor of St.Christopher’s Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia.) • Objectives: more specific, measureable, learner centered. • At the end of the presentation the participants in this session will be able to: • Contrast goals with objectives • Develop goals and objectives for one educational assignment this weekend.

12. Rubric: Guidelines for Evaluating Behavioral Objectives This is an example of how to create clear guidelines for evaluation and grading of behavioral objectives.

13. Goals and Objectives: another way of looking at them • Goals: • General, big picture • Broad sweeps • Teacher focused • Not measureable • Objectives: • Focused • Specific • Learner centered • Measureable

14. Goals and Objectives: One more angle: "The goal is where we want to be. The objectives are the steps needed to get there."

15. Contrasting goals and objectives: an example from the ACGME • “The goals and objectives for a specific simulated learning experience may relate only to Interpersonal & Communication Skills. • Sample goal for a simulated learning experience: • Improve performance in communicating effectively with patients. • Sample objectives for this simulation experience: • Provide precise information to a patient that is clearly understood. • Express openness to feedback from patients. • Pay close attention to patients and actively listen to them.”

16. What does the ACGME mean? Competency-based goals and objectives for each assignment at each educational level, which the program must distribute to residents and faculty annually, in either written or electronic form. These should be reviewed by the resident at the start of each rotation; “The phrase “competency-based goals and objectives” means that the goals and objectives clearly relate to one or more of the six ACGME competency domains.” From: Program Director Guide to the Common Program Requirements https://www.acgme.org/acWebsite/navPages/commonpr_documents/IVA1234_EducationalProgram_CurriculumComponents_Explanation.pdf

17. How will the ACGME check on you? • Documentation for overall educational goals: • “The written educational goals should be available for site visitor review either as a separate document or as part of a Program Handbook. • Verification that residents review the learning objectives will be accomplished through the resident survey as well as site visitor interviews as needed.” From: Program Director Guide to the Common Program Requirements https://www.acgme.org/acWebsite/navPages/commonpr_documents/IVA1234_EducationalProgram_CurriculumComponents_Documentation.pdf

18. How will the ACGME check on you? Resident Survey Questions: 9. Has your program provided you access to, either by hard copy or electronically, written goals and objectives for the program overall? 10. Has your program provided you access to, either by hard copy or electronically, written goals and objectives for each rotation and major assignment? From: Program Director Guide to the Common Program Requirements https://www.acgme.org/acWebsite/navPages/commonpr_documents/IVA1234_EducationalProgram_CurriculumComponents_Documentation.pdf

19. Goals and Objectives: Available resources for developing your program’s goals and objectives

20. Academic Pediatric Association http://www.ambpeds.org/index.cfm http://www.academicpeds.org/egwebnew/index.cfm This website contains tools to assist you to do the following: Plan rotations and programs Integrate ACGME competencies into curricula Access goals and objectives for pediatric learning experiences Build evaluation forms Conduct faculty development The APA Educational Guidelines for Pediatric Residency are designed to be adapted to local needs. The content was developed by over 300 experts in pediatrics and related fields, but it defines neither minimal nor comprehensive educational standards. This site is open to the public, but all users must log in using a username and password.

21. General Surgery Residency Program http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/utsw/cda/dept47662/files/54513.html OVERALL COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATIONAL GOALS FOR THE PROGRAM BY SERVICE AND PGY LEVEL FOR GENERAL SURGERY RESIDENTS

22. http://www.med.umich.edu/anescriticalcare/templates/education_fellow_goals.htmlhttp://www.med.umich.edu/anescriticalcare/templates/education_fellow_goals.html

23. The following overall objectives, arranged by general competencies, apply to all anesthesia critical care fellows during all rotations.  Methods used to assess those competencies are listed in parentheses after item A.     Medical knowledge.  Medical knowledge is obtained by participating in direct patient care in the ICU and during clinical electives, attending didactics including core critical care lectures and supervision, doing reading, asking questions and participating in the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s Multidisciplinary Critical Care Knowledge Assessment Program (MCCKAP). (Medical knowledge is assessed by clinical supervision, discussion during didactics, Tri-annual checklist evaluation of core competencies, MCCKAP exam, and ultimately by passing the critical care boards.) Specific objectives: To be familiar with the epidemiology and risk factors for commonly encountered critical care conditions including the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), Sepsis and multiorgan dysfunction, common causes of shock and hemodynamic instability, Acute Lung Injury, ARDS, Acute Renal failure, Nosocomial infections, acute bleeding. Knowledge of epidemiology also includes: Relative prevalence rates and risks for individuals based on previous clinical conditions, type of surgical or procedural interventions, demographics such as age, gender.

24. Developing Measurable Objectives as Evaluation Tools Measurable objectives are used as assessment tools. Once the objective is defined, this then becomes the foundation for your evaluation. If your evaluation approach is very different than your behavioral objectives you should reconsider one or the other.

25. Developing Goals and Objectives: A Short Exercise • On the sheet provided: • Identify an educational assignment in your program. • Create an overall goal for the activity. • Develop two measureable competency-based objectives. • Identify a related evaluation method for each objective.

26. Conclusions / Wrap-up • We reviewed the definitions of, and differences between, goals and objectives. • We covered the ACGME common program requirements and methods of program evaluation. • We identified a few readily available resources to assist in the creation of your own goals and objectives. • We briefly discussed the use of objectives in the creation of evaluation tools.