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WBA Pilot Goes Live on March 31st

The Workplace-Based Assessment (WBA) Pilot will be launching next week! Starting in Spring 2025, all required Patient Care core clerkships will be part of this exciting new initiative. 

 

All students who have clerkships scheduled in the patient care phase from March 31, 2025 – March 2026 (surgery, internal medicine, OB/Gyn, Peds, Psych and Family Med) should have received an email with your unique QR code last week containing a link to your individual account for WBAs.  Have this handy when you start clerkships so you can get the REQUIRED minimum 2 WBAs per week.  You can print a copy and tuck it into your badge holder, create a shortcut to it on your phone (see minute 40 in the TTC video below for instructions) or go to your student dashboard for a copy.  If your QR code isn’t working or you didn’t receive it please contact: somdata@uw.edu

 

The WBA Pilot is part of the new Competency Mapping and Programmatic Assessment System (COMPASS) framework, which aims to address concerns about transparency and fairness within the current tiered grading system and to better align educational practices with patient needs and competencies in ongoing medical education. Look for the compass icon to identify changes associated with this new program of assessment!

 

COMPASS COMPASS 2

 

What You Need to Know

  • What are WBAs? WBAs are brief, formative assessments completed with your preceptor after a clinical encounter, providing valuable feedback for your growth.
  • Students are responsible for initiating the WBAs with their preceptors (attendings, residents, fellows all count).  “Would you have 5 minutes to give me feedback and fill out a feedback form on the patient we saw together?”
  • WBA Requirements: You are responsible for getting 2 WBAs per week and covering all 6 activities at least once in a 3-week or 6-week clerkship and twice in a 12-week clerkship to receive full credit.
  • A week is Monday-Sunday.  Late submissions will not count towards the requirement.
  • Grading Bonus: Completion of WBA requirements will add a bonus of up to a 2% to your final clinical grade (not to exceed 100%).
  • COMPASS Webpage: Visit the COMPASS webpage for all the details on the WBA Pilot, including requirements, submission process, and step-by-step guidance. Check out the Student Toolkit for guides on completing and submitting WBAs and additional resources related to the WBA Pilot.

For OB/GYN, UWSOM has added a 7th optional EPA: Prepare Effectively for Operative Cases.  

  1. When you choose your rotation as either OB/Gyn or Surgery, a new site of care will become available. This will ONLY be available for these two clerkships.
  2. If relevant, click operating room as the site of care to initiate a WBA.
  3. The new activity is called: Prepare effectively for operative cases.  This best reflects expectations of you as a student when you are in the operating room – you will have prepared for the case by understanding the indications, the anatomy, possible complications of the surgery, etc.

Completion of the new activity will count towards the 2 per week requirement portion of the grade bonus (up to 1%).

It will not count towards the 1 of 6 activities requirement of the grade bonus. You still need to complete at least 1 of each of the other 6 activities during OB/GYN and general surgery clerkships to get that part of the bonus (up to 1%).