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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

Changing Assessment for Changing Psychiatrists: An Australian and New Zealand Perspective

Evolving assessment for evolving psychiatrists-australasian perspective

Because assessment is not a separate stage of learning but a key driver of it, workplace-based and evidence-based assessment methods need to be used within an integrated system in psychiatry specialty training.

The presentation notes that, over the past two decades, the educational literature has increasingly emphasized the close relationship between learning and assessment, with assessment now viewed not as a separate testing activity but as a key driver of learning. This shift is particularly significant at a time when the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) is considering the future of its specialty training program. Since the current program was introduced in 2012, psychiatry, healthcare systems, trainee expectations, and community needs have changed substantially. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated changes in education and assessment, exposing the strengths and weaknesses of existing approaches. After thirteen years, aspects of the current program have been found to be out of step with contemporary psychiatric priorities and the growing complexity of mental healthcare. Recognizing that incremental changes would be insufficient, a redesign of the program has begun, with implementation planned for 2030. This reform offers an opportunity to strengthen assessment through evidence-based and workplace-based approaches that support learning, professional competence, and patient care. Methods such as Case-based Discussion (CbD), Multi-Source Feedback (MSF), the Mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise (Mini-CEX), Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs), and observed clinical assessments enable performance to be assessed in real clinical settings and meaningful feedback to be generated. The educational value of these methods depends on how they are implemented; high-quality feedback, alignment with learning needs, and attention to well-being are essential. In conclusion, the presentation argues that a coherent assessment system should integrate complementary methods that support learning, reflect contemporary psychiatric practice, and prepare future psychiatrists for changing healthcare needs.

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