Educational impact of in-training assessment (ITA) in postgraduate medical education. A qualitative study of an ITA programme in actual practice

The aim of this study was to investigate the experiences and thoughts of the programme directors, the assessors, and the trainees about a recently introduced ITA programme. Firstly we wanted to explore how the programme works in actual practice: how the administration af the ITA programme was organised, how the individual assessments were administered, and what perceived benefits or barriers the users had experienced. Secondly, we wanted to explore what perceived impact the introduction af ITA had on the educational process: what was the effect on training, teaching and learning, and what benefits and barriers the users believed themselves to have experienced. Finally we wanted to investigate the users' attitudes towards the concept of assessment.