Workplace Based Assessments (WPBA)
WPBA have been around for quite a long time now. We are all aware of their strengths and limitations! As a trainee, you need to get into good habits of collecting regular WPBA for a variety of different tasks and from a variety of different assessors. WPBA are most helpful if you understand them to be a formative assessment of your relative strengths and weaknesses. When you ask someone to complete one for you, try to make sure they can give you feedback on what you did well and on how you can develop. The feedback should be as soon as possible after the observed task is undertaken.
The person assessing you does not need to be your Consultant supervisor, although you must make sure they do some of them! A range of different people, including other doctors as well as non-medical colleagues can complete assessments for you. The more feedback you can gather, the more you can recognize how you can develop your knowledge and skills.
The College now recommends that you complete two mini-PAT each year. If you are doing six month placements (mainly in Core training) then it should be straightforward to get one in each six month post. If you are doing a post of at least a year, aim to do one towards the start of the year and one towards the end. This will help you to see the progress you have made. For the mini-PAT that will be closest in time to your ARCP - get it started earlier than you think! You need time for people to complete it as well as time for your supervisor to go through it with you and release it to you so that it is available to the ARCP panel. Do make sure you nominate enough people: take into account that not everyone you nominate will get it completed and you need to have enough responses for it to be valid.