Kathy Hiller, MD, professor of emergency medicine, received an American Medical Association "Accelerating Change in Medical Education Innovation Grant" for the proposal, "Assessor Development by Peer Referencing using the National Clinical Assessment Tool in Emergency Medicine (NCAT-EM) Research Consortium."
The NCAT-EM is a "shift card" created at a national consensus conference and used all over the country in medical student EM rotations. The NCAT-EM research consortium is 13 representative sites that input assessment and demographic data into a web-based database. The database is the first of its kind, and to date has collected more than 6,000 discrete assessments on more than 750 students from more than 700 assessors. This project is one of many currently using the NCAT-EM consortium and database to study clinical assessment. It will allow clerkship directors to provide feedback to assessors (faculty and residents) on how their ratings compare with their peers, both institutionally and nationally.
The American Medical Association Accelerating Change in Medical Education Innovation Grant Program offers funding to AMA members for projects conducting research, implementing innovations or disseminating effective approaches in medical education aimed at preparing future physicians to succeed in a rapidly evolving health care system.