Evaluating Application of Knowledge and Skills: The Use of Consensus Expert Review to Assess Conference Abstracts of Field Epidemiology Training Participants

Abstract

Often evaluations of training programs are limited — with many focusing on the aspects that are easy to measure (e.g., reaction of trainees) without addressing the important outcomes of training, such as how trainees applied their new knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Numerous evaluations fail to measure training’s effect on job performance because few effective methods are available to do so. Particularly difficult is the problem of evaluating multisite training programs that vary considerably in structure and implementation from one site to another.