2018 Ottawa consensus statement: Selection and recruitment to the healthcare professions

Abstract

Selection and recruitment into healthcare education and practice is a key area of interest for educators with significant developments in research, policy, and practice in recent years. This updated consensus statement, developed through a multi-stage process, examines future opportunities and challenges in selection and recruitment. There is both a gap in the literature around and a compelling case for further theoretical and empirical literature to underpin the development of overall selection philosophes and policies and their enactment. More consistent evidence has emerged regarding the quality of different selection methods. Approaches to selection are context-dependent, requiring the consideration of an institution’s philosophy regarding what they are trying to achieve, the communities it purports to serve, along with the system within which they are used. Diversity and globalization issues continue to be critically important topics. Further research is required to explore differential attainment and explain why there are substantial differences in culturally acceptable ways of approaching diversity and widening access. More sophisticated evaluation approaches using multi-disciplinary theoretical frameworks are required to address the issues. Following a discussion of these areas, 10 recommendations are presented to guide future research and practice and to encourage debate between colleagues across the globe.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Tom Kinirons and Sarah Stott of Work Psychology Group for supporting the consensus group discussions and workshops, and in preparing the final manuscript. We also gratefully acknowledge Professor Lambert Schuwirth for his helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

Disclosure statement

FP is a Director in Work Psychology Group, a research consulting practice which receives funding from Health Education England, UKCAT and other educational institutions to design and evaluate selection methods and systems.

JC is a member of the UKCAT Research Committee.

MDH holds an Associated Medical Services (AMS) Phoenix Fellowship Award to examine a New Health Professions Admission Model Grounded in Patient Defined Application Attributes, Processes and Policies.

No other competing interests declared.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

F. Patterson

F. Patterson, BSc, MSc, PhD, CPsychol, FRCGP (Hon), Work Psychology Group, Derby, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

C. Roberts

C. Roberts, MBChB, MMedSci, FRACGP, PhD, the University of Sydney, Northern Clinical School, Hornsby Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

M. D. Hanson

M. D. Hanson, MD, MEd, FRCPC, University of Toronto, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

W. Hampe

W. Hampe, Dipl. Biochemistry, Master Medical Education, Dr. Phil. Nat, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.

K. Eva

K. Eva, PhD, Hon. FAcadMEd, Centre for Health Education Scholarship and Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

G. Ponnamperuma

G. Ponnamperuma, MBBS, MMEd, PhD, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Centre for Medical Education, Singapore.

M. Magzoub

M. Magzoub, MBBS, MSc, PhD, MFPH, Department of Medical Education, College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

A. Tekian

A. Tekian, PhD, MHPE, University of Illinios at Chicago, Department of Medical Education, Chicago, Illinois, United States.

J. Cleland

J. Cleland, BSc, MSc, PhD, D Clin Psychol, FRCPE, Centre for Healthcare Research and Innovation (CHERI), University of Aberdeen, UK.