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>> STUDENT: Hello. I am a student. >> ACI: Hello Student. I am an ACI, Approved
Clinical Instructor. >> STUDENT: What is a clinical proficiency?
>> ACI: The Clinical Proficiencies integrate decision-making, critical thinking, and skill
application to provide students with the additional means to demonstrate knowledge and skill at
the highest levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. >> STUDENT: Do I have to practice for my proficiency
assessment before I meet with my A C I to be assessed?
>> ACI: Hopefully you will have opportunities to demonstrate your proficiency multiple times
throughout the semester. Proficiencies are incorporation of knowledge and skills you
have already been taught. That is why they are scheduled in the fashion they are scheduled.
? It is always a good idea to be reviewing and practicing your abilities but proficiencies
are things you have already learned and should know how to do. It will be different, perhaps,
demonstrating these abilities on a real patient if you have not done that before but the underlying
knowledge and skills you should have already learned.
>> STUDENT: What if my ACI has already seen me complete a proficiency but it was not assigned
yet? Can the ACI still sign my proficiency evaluation form?
>> ACI: Sure. This is ideal. For example, the first week of the semester you may have
the opportunity to evaluate a knee injury. That particular proficiency might not be “assigned”
until later in the semester. Ideally you will discuss your evaluation with your ACI, the
ACI will assess your performance and record that on your proficiency evaluation form for
the knee. Hopefully, later in the semester you will have the opportunity to evaluate
several knee injuries. Each time you will go through this process and be assessed by
your ACI. Your ACI can simply record each assessment on the same proficiency evaluation
form. >> STUDENT: What if I am assigned a particular
proficiency but don’t have an opportunity to evaluate a real patient before the due
date for the proficiency? >> ACI: The due dates for the proficiencies
are necessary. It has been our experience that, without due dates, some proficiencies
can accumulate resulting in several being due at the end of the semester and the ACI
is overwhelmed with a few students needing to complete several proficiencies. The ACI
is responsible for evaluating your clinical proficiency and is free to use various methods
to accomplish this task. Most likely, in this particular situation, the ACI would stage
a simulation of the topic of the proficiency. This will allow him or her to assess your
clinical proficiency without having to wait for that particular situation to present itself.
If, later in the semester, an actual patient presents himself or herself with this condition
your ACI can re-assess you on that proficiency but, if the opportunity doesn’t present
itself, you can still know that you are completing your proficiencies in a timely manner.
>> STUDENT: What if I have a situation present itself that was the topic of a proficiency
from a previous semester? Can I have my current ACI re-assess me on this proficiency?
>> ACI: Sure. Your current ACI can evaluate you on any of the previous proficiencies.
It is not desirable to spend a lot of time doing this but there are situations where
it is necessary. For example, if you were assessed in a previous semester on a proficiency
and you did not score well. In this situation, you might want the ACI from a later clinical
assignment to re-assess you on a proficiency. >> STUDENT: What if my ACI is really busy
or out of town a particular week and doesn’t have time to assess me on the proficiencies
that are due that week? Am I penalized? >> ACI: Assessing your proficiencies is your
ACIs responsibility but it takes teamwork on both parties parts. The ACI is ultimately
responsible for when and how your proficiencies are assessed. If, in situations such as this,
you both have an understanding that a proficiency is going to be postponed, that is perfectly
acceptable. For the course, and for the sake of the ACIs, I have a rule that no more than
two week’s worth of proficiencies should be completed in one week. This allows some
flexibility should schedules get busy but it also avoid attempting to crash too many
proficiencies in too short a period of time. >> STUDENT: How will you know that I have
completed my proficiencies? >> ACI: I am going to ask for updates from
you regarding the progress you are making completing your proficiencies. At the end
of the semester, I will want a copy of all the proficiency recording forms showing that
they were signed by an ACI and the date they were completed. This copy will go in your
official record. >> STUDENT: I am assigned to a particular
ACI but have an opportunity to have another ACI evaluate me on a proficiency. Is that
OK? >> ACI: Yes. Any ACI for this program can
assess any proficiency. This will most likely occur when a particular ACI might have an
opportunity for to “stage” some proficiencies for their facility. It makes sense that several
students in that facility might participate in that session and have that proficiency
signed off by an ACI to which she or he is not assigned.
>> STUDENT: My ACI asked a graduate student to assess me for a proficiency. Is that OK?
>> ACI: It might be OK. ACIs have to have gone through our ACI training and have to
have been certified for at least one year. Often our graduate assistants are not certified
for over one year. In these situations the graduate student is officially supervised
by an ACI. The graduate assistant is welcome to assess your proficiency but the ACI supervising
that graduate assistant must also sign off on the proficiency.
>> STUDENT: What if I get too busy and can’t complete all my proficiencies before the end
of the semester? >> ACI: Completing the proficiencies is a
requirement of this program but, to provide some flexibility for situations such as this,
only 85% of the proficiencies must be complete by the end of the semester to obtain a grade
of incomplete for this course. Once the missing proficiencies are completed and documentation
is submitted to the instructor for this course your incomplete will be replaced with a grade
of CR. According to University policy, you have one year to complete any incompletes.
The ATEP program director will not approve your application for the certification examination
until all incompletes are complete. >> STUDENT: Why do we have to do all these
clinical proficiencies? >> ACI: The intent of a clinical proficiencies
is to capture the essence of learning over time by documenting a student’s progression
from cognitive competence and psychomotor skill performance through supervised clinical
application as evidenced by the integration of decision making and critical thinking as
measured by the clinical proficiencies. >> STUDENT: How often are the proficiencies
due? >> ACI: Different proficiencies are assigned
for most of the weeks of the semester. The documentation of the proficiencies is due
the last day of instruction for the semester. This date is in the university catalog and
is reflected in the syllabus for this course. It basically is the day before consultation
days the week before finals week each semester. >> STUDENT: Do I have to carry around a notebook
with the proficiencies at all times just in case my ACI gets a chance to sign me off on
one? >> ACI: The documentation for each proficiency
is necessary but should not be too cumbersome. Because your ACI will most likely assess your
proficiency while in the assigned facility, you may find it easiest to simply store your
proficiency binder in that facility so that it is available should it be needed. Also,
your ACI doesn’t have to have your proficiency recording form in front of him or her when
she or he is assessing your proficiency. Most often she or he will not have the form while
assessing you. Imagine the sprained ankle that you both run to the gym to assess. The
ACI would not stop to grab your proficiency binder. After you both had taken care of the
patient, and were having an opportunity to debrief regarding the situation, your ACI
can fill out the form at that point. This might not be until the next day or even later.
That is fine.