SETQ

What

SETQ (System of Evaluation of Teaching Qualities) measures teaching qualities of individual supervisors.

Supervisors are evaluated based on multiple teaching performance domains: creating a positive learning climate, professional attuitudes towards the resident, being learner centred, giving feedback to residents, evaluating residents’ knowledge and skills and professional practice management. SETQ questionnaires are specialty specific.

The international version of the SETQ is called SETQ Smart. You can find the SETQ Smart publication here.

Why?

Most medical specialists are expected to combine patient care responsibilities with good clinical teaching and supervision of future colleagues.

For supervisors, receiving feedback from residents on their teaching qualities can be a source of support and motivation for improvement (that is all faculty involved in resident education).

How?

The evaluation uses questionnaires. Questionnaires are available for residents and for supervisors (a self-evaluation questionnaire). All questionnaires are specialty specific; they include 22 general and multiple specialty specific items. There is room for written comments. Residents are elective to evaluate a supervisor based on sufficient exposure to the teaching performance of the supervisor. For supervisors to receive useful feedback residents are invited to formulate their comments as specifically and clearly as possible. This will increase the acceptance and uptake of the feedback given.

By whom?

Supervisors self-evaluate and are evaluated by their residents. To self-evaluate supervisors fill in one questionnaire. Residents may fill in multiple questionnaires (one for each supervisor). It takes only a few minutes to fill out one questionnaire.

Anonymity

Participation in SETQ is anonymous for residents. The individual feedback reports only show the number of residents who completed the evaluation form, not the resident’s year of training nor gender. This information is only used for questionnaire validation and other research purposes. The SETQ feedback reporting is also anonymous for the evaluated teaching faculty. However, they may agree on sharing the results with their peers.

Feedback report?

At the end of the pre-determined measurement period, all supervisors receive their individual feedback reports with the performance evaluation results.

Research

All (specialty-specific) SETQ questionnaires have been developed in collaboration with teaching faculty and residents of the AmsterdamUMC and other teaching hospitals. The questionnaires continue to be subject to research to ensure quality and validity, as is the use of feedback reports by supervisors.

The questionnaires have been validated extensively and found to be reliable. Dozens of SETQ studies have been published (see publications). The SETQ evaluation is completely webbased. Filling out the questionnaires as well as receiving of (individual) feedback reports per faculty member is completely automatic. The SETQ system is compliant with all safety requirements.

Dissertations by dr. Renée van der Leeuw and dr. Benjamin Boerebach have looked into (use of) the SETQ system. For these and other dissertations please review the website of the research group.