Trainee and student evaluations have been an integral part of the evolution of OPP programs at WVSOM. All participants (eg, trainers, trainees, osteopathic medical students) are encouraged to assess, on a scale of 1 to 4, each workshop and lecture on the quality of the presentation, impact on the respondent's knowledge base, convenience of the date and time of the presentation, and quality of the distance-learning format. Of the workshop respondents in the 2004-2005 academic year, the average rating of presentation quality was 3.3, the effectiveness in improving knowledge about the topic was 2.97, the convenience of the date and time of the program was 2.33, and the quality of the distance-learning format was 3.11. Likewise, Osteopathic Grand Rounds respondents rated the presentation quality 3.34; knowledge improvement, 3.2; convenience, 3.07; and distance-learning format quality, 2.67. The program evaluation forms also allow written comments, in which respondents from the same year may include general suggestions for improving the program.
In the 2004-2005 academic year, only 30 (14%) of 217 MSOPTI OPP Workshop participants and 86 (29%) of 300 Osteopathic Grand Rounds lecture attendees completed and returned the corresponding evaluation forms. These poor response rates highlight the need to improve the collection of completed evaluation forms from distant MSOPTI sites.
Recorded copies of MSOPTI broadcasts are made available to each OPTI site for various purposes, such as repeating a broadcast for someone who was absent from the original presentation. To increase the number of completed evaluation forms for some of the broadcasts, each site's medical education coordinator was asked to contact interns and residents who had excused or unexcused absences for previously aired broadcasts from the 2005-2006 academic year and develop a repeat-viewing schedule for both workshops and lectures. Repeat viewings require attendees to submit the appropriate evaluation forms to the MSOPTI office. It is hoped that additional forms will be returned from both absent groups, although more effort has been focused on those with unexcused absences. More efficient means of tracking program evaluations and improving survey response rates, such as using electronic evaluation forms, are being explored.