Non-technical attributes in paramedicine: Is situational judgement testing the solution?
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.32378/ijp.v4i1.171
Abstract
Non-technical attributes have been identified as important and desirable qualities for all paramedics. Despite this, there is currently little research exploring the assessment of non-technical attributes in paramedicine. Situational judgement tests (SJT) have been identified as a valid and reliable assessment of non-technical attributes in medical education, however, it appears there is no research exploring the use of SJTs in the field of paramedicine. This paper outlines the background information on SJTs, what they are and their successful implementation in medicine. Additionally, this paper identifies potential uses for SJTs in paramedicine including admission and mental health screening based of previous research in medical education. This paper concludes that SJTs could be utilised in the field of paramedicine to measure non-technical attributes.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Patterson F, Ashworth V, Zibarras L, Coan P, Kerrin M, O'Neill P. Evaluations of situational judgement tests to assess non-academic attributes in selection. Medical education. 2012;46(9):850-68. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2923.2012.04336.x
Tavares W, Mausz J. Assessment of non-clinical attributes in paramedicine using multiple mini-interviews. Emerg Med J. 2015;32(1):70-5. https://doi.org/10.1136/emermed-2013-202964
Patterson F, Knight A, Dowell J, Nicholson S, Cousans F, Cleland J. How effective are selection methods in medical education? A systematic review. Medical education. 2016;50(1):36-60. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.12817
Patterson F, Rowett E, Hale R, Grant M, Roberts C, Cousans F, et al. The predictive validity of a situational judgement test and multiple-mini interview for entry into postgraduate training in Australia. BMC Med Educ. 2016; 16:87. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-016-0606-4
Hissbach JC, Sehner S, Harendza S, Hampe W. Cutting costs of multiple mini-interviews – changes in reliability and efficiency of the Hamburg medical school admission test between two applications. BMC Med Educ. 2014; 14:54. https://doi.org/ 10.1186/1472-6920-14-54.
Dore KL, Reiter HI, Kreuger S, Norman GR. CASPer, an online pre-interview screen for personal/professional characteristics: prediction of national licensure scores. Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract. 2017;22(2):327-36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-016-9739-9
Rowett E, Patterson F, Cousans F, Elley K. Using a situational judgement test for selection into dental core training: a preliminary analysis. Br Dent J. 2017;222(9):715-9. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2017.410
Pangallo A, Zibarras L, Patterson F. Measuring resilience in palliative care workers using the situational judgement test methodology. Medical education. 2016;50(11):1131-42. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.13072
Cousans F, Patterson F, Edwards H, Walker K, McLachlan JC, Good D. Evaluating the complementary roles of an SJT and academic assessment for entry into clinical practice. Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract. 2017;22(2):401-13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-017-9755-4
Lievens F, Peeters H, Schollaert E. Situational judgement tests: a review of recent research. Pers Rev. 2008;37(4):426-41. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480810877598
Patterson F, Zibarras L, Ashworth V. Situational judgement tests in medical education and training: Research, theory and practice: AMEE Guide No. 100. Med Teach. 2016;38(1):3-17. https://doi.org/10.3109/0142159X.2015.1072619
Wernimont PF, Campbell JP. Signs, samples, and criteria. The Journal of applied psychology. 1968;52(5):372-6. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0026244
Motowidlo SJ, Hooper AC, Jackson H. Implicit policies about relations between personality traits and behavioral effectiveness in situational judgement items. The Journal of applied psychology. 2006;91(4):749-61. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.91.4.749
Lievens F, Sackett PR. Situational judgment tests in high-stakes settings: issues and strategies with generating alternate forms. The Journal of applied psychology. 2007;92(4):1043-55. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.92.4.1043
Lievens F, Sackett PR. Video-based versus written situational judgment tests: a comparison in terms of predictive validity. The Journal of applied psychology. 2006;91(5):1181-8. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.91.5.1181
Kiessling C, Bauer J, Gartmeier M, Iblher P, Karsten G, Kiesewetter J, et al. Development and validation of a computer-based situational judgement test to assess medical students' communication skills in the field of shared decision making. Patient Educ Couns. 2016;99(11):1858-64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2016.06.006
Colbert-Getz JM, Pippitt K, Chan B. Developing a situational judgment test blueprint for assessing the non-cognitive skills of applicants to the University of Utah School of Medicine, the United States. Journal of educational evaluation for health professions. 2015; 12:51. https://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2015.12.51
Arthur W, Glaze RM, Jarrett SM, White CD, Schurig I, Taylor JE. Comparative evaluation of three situational judgment test response formats in terms of construct-related validity, subgroup differences, and susceptibility to response distortion. The Journal of applied psychology. 2014;99(3):535-45. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035788
McDaniel M, Hartman N, Grubb W. Situational judgment tests, knowledge, behavioral tendency and validity: A meta-analysis. 18th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology Orlando. 2003. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.728.3210&rep=rep1&type=pdf
McDaniel M, Hartman N, Whetzel D, Grubb W. Situational judgment tests, response instructions, and validity: A meta-analysis. Pers Psychol. 2007;60(1):63-91. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2007.00065.x
McDaniel M, Nguyen N. Situational judgment tests: A review of practice and constructs assessed. Int J Sel Assess. 2001;9(1/2):103-13. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480810877598
Whetzel D, McDaniel M. Situational judgment tests: An overview of current research. Hum Resour Manag Rev 2009;19(3):188-202. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.hrmr.2009.03.007
Patterson F, Ashworth V, Mehra S, Falcon H. Could situational judgement tests be used for selection into dental foundation training? British Dental Journal. 2012;213(1):23-6. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2012.560
Lievens F. Adjusting medical school admission: assessing interpersonal skills using situational judgement tests. Medical education. 2013;47(2):182-9. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.12089
Goss BD, Ryan AT, Waring J, Judd T, Chiavaroli NG, O'Brien RC, et al. Beyond Selection: The Use of Situational Judgement Tests in the Teaching and Assessment of Professionalism. Academic medicine: journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges. 2017;92(6):780-4. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000001591
Burrus J, Betancourt A, Holtzman S, Minsky J, MacCann C, Roberts RD. Emotional Intelligence Relates to Well-Being: Evidence from the Situational Judgment Test of Emotional Management. Applied psychology Health and well-being. 2012;4(2):151-66. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-0854.2012.01066.x
Schubert S, Ortwein H, Dumitsch A, Schwantes U, Wilhelm O, Kiessling C. A situational judgement test of professional behaviour: development and validation. Med Teach. 2008;30(5):528-33. https://doi.org/10.1080/01421590801952994
De Leng WE, Stegers-Jager KM, Born MP, Themmen APN. Integrity situational judgement test for medical school selection: judging 'what to do' versus 'what not to do'. Medical education. 2018;52(4):427-37. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.13498
Health Professional Council of South Africa. Professional Board for Emergency Care: Emergency Care Assistant. Pretoria, South Africa: Health Professional Council of South Africa; 2016.
College of Paramedics. Paramedic Curriculum Guidance. 3rd ed. Bridgwater, UK: College of Paramedics; 2014;7–10. Available from: https://www.collegeofparamedics.co.uk/downloads/Curriculum_Guidance_2014.pdf
Paramedic Association of Canada. National Occupational Competency Profile for Paramedic Association of Canada. October 2011. Available from: http://www.paramedic.ca/uploaded/web/documents/2011-10-31-Approved-NOCP-English-Master.pdf.
Council of Ambulance Authorities Inc. Professional Competency Standards Paramedics. 2010;1–18. Available from: www.caa.net.au/images/documents/accreditation_resources/Paramedic_Professional_Competency_Standards_V2.2_February_2013_PEPAS.pdf.
Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council. 2014. Paramedic Education and Training Standard-V1. Available from: https://www.phecit.ie/Images/PHECC/Career%20and%20Education/Education%20Standards/STN015%20-Paramedic%20Education%20and%20Training%20Standard-V1.pdf.
Lievens F, Patterson F. The validity and incremental validity of knowledge tests, low-fidelity simulations, and high-fidelity simulations for predicting job performance in advanced-level high-stakes selection. The Journal of applied psychology. 2011;96(5):927-40. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023496
van der Gaag A, Donaghy J. Paramedics and professionalism: Looking back and looking forwards. Journal of Paramedic Practice. 2013, 5(1): 8-10. https://doi.org/10.12968/jpar.2013.5.1.8
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.32378/ijp.v4i1.171
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2019 Ryan Bennett, Brett Williams

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
IJP is an Open Access journal and articles published are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Article copyright remains with individual authors. Authors grant unrestricted copyright license to the IJP. Readers may copy, distribute, build upon, reproduce, and display the work with the proper citation of the original work in this publication.
DPLA Rights statement:http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-NC/1.0/?language=en. The IJP supports the National Principles for Open Access Policy Statement.