The Value of Programmatic Assessment in Supporting Educators and Students to Succeed: A Qualitative Evaluation

Background: Programmatic assessment has been proposed as the way forward for competency-based assessment, yet there is a dearth of literature describing the implementation and evaluation of programmatic assessment approaches. Objective: To evaluate the implementation of a programmatic assessment and explore its ability to support students and assessors. Design: A qualitative evaluation of programmatic assessment was employed. Participants/setting: Interviews with graduates (n = 8) and preceptors (n = 12) together with focus groups with faculty assessors (n = 9) from the one Australian university explored experiences of the programmatic approach, role of assessment in learning, and defensibility of assessment decisions in determining competence. Analysis performed: Data were analyzed into key themes using framework analysis. Results: The programmatic assessment increased confidence in defensibility of assessment decisions, reduced emotional burden of assessment, increased value of assessment, and identified and remediated at-risk students earlier when philosophical and practice shifts in approaches to assessment were embraced. Conclusions: Programmatic assessment supports a holistic approach to competency development and assessment and has multiple benefits for learners and assessors.