title: Conceptual challenges in tailoring physician performance assessment to individual practice.
abstract: Practice inevitably narrows over time. Therefore, testing of established doctors requires that their assessment be tailored to a far narrower practice than is appropriate for testing of new doctors who have not yet differentiated. In this paper, we address the conceptual challenges of tailoring physician assessment to individual practice. Testing of established doctors needs to reflect that physicians specialise, often in idiosyncratic ways; otherwise, the testing will not be credible among established doctors and will not reflect the realities of their practice. Despite the importance of these goals, the conceptual and methodological challenges of creating tailored assessments remain daunting.
authors.affiliation: National Board of Medical Examiners, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. dmelnick@nbme.org
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Melnick
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Asch
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Blackmore
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Klass
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Norcini
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing / Q000592:standards*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000592:standards*; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards