Myth or Reality: Self-Assessment Is Central to Effective Curriculum in Anatomical Pathology Graduate Medical Education
Open accessAbstract
Self-assessment, a personal evaluation of one's professional attributes and abilities against a perceived norm, has frequently been cited as a necessary component of self-directed learning and the maintenance of competency within regulated health professions, including the medical professions. However, education research literature has consistently shown uninformed personal global assessment of performance to be inaccurate in a variety of contexts, and have limited value in a workplace-based curriculum. Incorporating known standards of performance with internal and external data on the performance improves a learner's ability to accurately self-assess. Selecting content suitable for self-assessment, providing explicit assessment standards, encouraging feedback-seeking behaviors, supporting a growth mindset, and providing quality feedback in a supportive context are all strategies that can support learner self-assessment, learner engagement in reflection, and action on feedback in Anatomical Pathology graduate medical education.
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Approaches such as selecting appropriate content, providing explicit assessment criteria, encouraging feedback-seeking behaviors, supporting a growth mindset, and offering high-quality feedback improve the accuracy of self-assessment and promote deeper engagement with reflection and meaningful action.
“These approaches not only improve the accuracy of self-assessment but also promote deeper engagement with reflection and more meaningful action in response to feedback [123-125].”
From Formative assessment and feedback in medical education: A practical guide: AMEE Guide No. 189 (2026) · cites this paper as [124]
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- Authors
- Lu, F.-I., Takahashi, S. G., & Kerr, C.
- Affiliations
- Sunnybrook Health Science Centre (CA)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Ontario Veterinary College (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Lu, Fang-I
- Venue
- Academic Pathology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-01
- Volume
- 8
- Pages
- 23742895211013528
- ISSN
- 2374-2895 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8120525
- OpenAlex
- W3163584723
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 2
- FWCI
- 2.38
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Academic Pathology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Innovations in Medical Education
- Social Sciences › Education › Student Assessment and Feedback
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Family Practice › Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills
- Keywords
- self-assessment, pathological anatomy, graduate medical education, self-directed learning, competence maintenance, performance standards, feedback, growth mindset, student reflection
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