Programmatic Assessment in Health Professions Education

This chapter recounts the learning gained by a group of assessment developers in one Australian medical education program as they implemented a comprehensive approach to curriculum development supporting greater emphasis on assessment as, and for, learning. This was a major work that challenged the dominant culture of a psychometric approach to assessment of learning. This chapter describes programmatic assessment for learning (PAL) (not to be confused with peer-assisted learning) which is a curriculum approach that uses a diverse range of assessment tasks that, over time, generates comprehensive information to inform students and educators of students’ progress towards achieving whole-of-program learning outcomes. This information assists students in developing and prioritizing their learning plans. The PAL curriculum approach constitutes a significant cultural shift and requires a significant change in understanding the educational role of assessment for curriculum designers, academic teachers, university policy makers, and students alike. This chapter will describe the persuasive benefits for adopting a PAL curriculum and recount the challenges and barriers that were experienced by those involved in the process of implementation.