The International Council of Ophthalmology 360-degree assessment tool: development and validation

Background: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and other organizations recommend 360-degree assessments for evaluation of interpersonal and communication skills, professional behaviours, and some aspects of patient care and system-based practice. No such tool has been developed for ophthalmology or received international content validation. Objective: To develop a valid, internationally applicable, ophthalmology-specific 360-degree assessment tool. Design: Exploratory study. Methods: A literature review was conducted. Individual 360-degree evaluation items from several publications were catalogued and classified according to different groups of assessors. A panel of international authors reviewed the list and voted on items that were most appropriate for international use. The list was trimmed to reduce redundancy and to make it as brief as possible while still capturing the essential components for each category. A second panel of international ophthalmic educators reviewed the international applicability and appropriateness of this collated list; relevant comments and suggestions were incorporated. Results: A tool for the evaluation of interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and system–based practice was developed. The tool has face and content validity. Conclusion: This assessment tool can be used internationally for giving formative feedback based on the opinions of the different groups of people who interact with residents.