Leveraging Technology for Continuous Programmatic Self-Assessment

INTRODUCTION: The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant requires programs to implement ongoing self-assessment processes using numerous measures to evaluate their effectiveness, entailing data collection, critical analysis, application of results, and the formulation of conclusions. Developing, implementing, and maintaining a robust ongoing self-assessment process is challenging for physician assistant/associate educators due to competing complexities, time limitations, overwhelming amounts of data, and a lack of training and/or adequate resources, which impact program success and faculty and staff stress. Recent technological advances, such as business intelligence (BI) software, may influence faculty and staff experiences in programmatic self-assessment. METHODS: A survey was used to quantitatively and qualitatively gauge faculty and staff experiences and perceptions of using BI technology in the study program's self-assessment process. Survey items focused on data management, usability, task management, faculty and staff stress, and overall satisfaction. RESULTS: Faculty and staff reported positive perceptions overall. Favorable narratives emerged related to their experiences using BI tools for self-assessment activities within the study program. Respondents recommend these tools to other programs and offer valuable insight to ensure successful implementation. DISCUSSION: The findings of this single-program study suggest that the use of BI technology may contribute favorably to faculty and staff experiences in programmatic self-assessment. However, further studies are needed to correlate a relationship and explore generalizability.