Rachel Westacott

Biographic Data

ID9109891
NAMERachel Westacott
GIVEN NAMESRachel
FAMILY NAMEWestacott
SIGNATUREWESTACOTT R
AFFILIATIONSBirmingham Medical School, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
ORCID0000-0001-9846-1961
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS10
TOTAL CITATIONS0
WORKS AS AUTHOR10
WORKS AS EDITOR0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2005
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2025
H-INDEX0

  • The influence of candidates’ race on examiners’ ratings in standardised assessments of clinical practice

    Open AccessCelia Brown, Sarah Khavandi et al.ARTICLEMedical Teacher2025

    Purpose Delivering fair and reliable summative assessments in medical education assumes examiner decision making is devoid of bias. We investigated whether candidate racial appearances influenced examiner ratings in undergraduate clinical exams.Methods We used an internet-based design. Examiners watched a randomised set of six videos of three different white candidates and three different non-white (Asian, black and Chinese) candidates taking a c…

  • Response to

    Celia Brown, Sarah Khavandi et al.ARTICLEMedical Teacher2024

    Dear EditorWe welcome the comments of Ng [1] on our paper evaluating potential racial bias in clinical assessments. We agree that we did not include candidates of every race in the study. We select

  • Twelve tips for introducing very short answer questions (VSAQs) into your medical curriculum

    Open AccessLaksha Bala, Rachel Westacott et al.ARTICLEMedical Teacher2023

    Most undergraduate written examinations use multiple-choice questions, such as single best answer questions (SBAQs) to assess medical knowledge. In recent years, a strong evidence base has emerged for the use of very short answer questions (VSAQs). VSAQs have been shown to be an acceptable, reliable, discriminatory, and cost-effective assessment tool in both formative and summative undergraduate assessments. VSAQs address many of the concerns rai…

  • The influence of candidates’ physical attributes on patient ratings in simulated assessments of clinical practice

    Open AccessCelia Brown, Kerry Badger et al.ARTICLEMedical Teacher2022

    BACKGROUND: We have previously shown that clinical examiners' scoring is not negatively impacted when a candidate has a tattoo, unnatural hair colour, or a regional accent. We investigated whether these physical attributes in exam candidates impact patient scoring. METHODS: Simulated/real patients were randomly assigned to watch five videos of simulated candidate performances of a cranial nerve examination: clear fail, borderline, good, 'clear pa…

  • Are remote clinical assessments a feasible and acceptable method of assessment? A systematic review

    Setor K Kunutsor, Elizabeth P Metcalf et al.ARTICLEMedical Teacher2022

    The COVID-19 pandemic presented an enormous and immediate challenge to assessing clinical skills in healthcare professionals. Many institutions were unable to deliver established face-to-face assessment methods such as Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs). Assessors needed to rapidly institute alternative assessment methods to ensure that candidates met the clinical competences required for progression. Using a systematic review, we…

  • Is Academic Attainment or Situational Judgment Test Performance in Medical School Associated With the Likelihood of Disciplinary Action? A National Retrospective Cohort Study

    Amir H Sam, Laksha Bala et al.ARTICLEAcademic Medicine2021

    PURPOSE: Disciplinary action imposed on physicians indicates their fitness to practice medicine is impaired and patient safety is potentially at risk. This national retrospective cohort study sought to examine whether there was an association between academic attainment or performance on a situational judgment test (SJT) in medical school and the risk of receiving disciplinary action within the first 5 years of professional practice in the United…

  • National inter-rater agreement of standardised simulated-patient-based assessments

    Amir H Sam, Michael D Reid et al.ARTICLEMedical Teacher2021

    PURPOSE: The forthcoming UK Medical Licensing Assessment will require all medical schools in the UK to ensure that their students pass an appropriately designed Clinical and Professional Skills Assessment (CPSA) prior to graduation and registration with a licence to practice medicine. The requirements for the CPSA will be set by the General Medical Council, but individual medical schools will be responsible for implementing their own assessments.…

  • The influence of candidates’ physical attributes on assessors’ ratings in clinical practice

    Open AccessAmir H Sam, Michael D Reid et al.ARTICLEMedical Teacher2021

    BACKGROUND: Assessments of physician competence in the work-place are common and often contribute to high-stakes assessments. Previous research suggests that assessors' judgements can be influenced by candidates' physical attributes. We investigated whether simulated candidates' scores were influenced by assessor bias based on tattoos, hair colour, and a regional accent. METHODS: We used an experimental, video-based, single-blinded, randomised, i…

  • Thinking differently – Students’ cognitive processes when answering two different formats of written question

    Open AccessAmir H Sam, Rebecca Wilson et al.ARTICLEMedical Teacher2021

    BACKGROUND: Single-best answer questions (SBAQs) are common but are susceptible to cueing. Very short answer questions (VSAQs) could be an alternative, and we sought to determine if students' cognitive processes varied across question types and whether students with different performance levels used different methods for answering questions. METHODS: We undertook a 'think aloud' study, interviewing 21 final year medical students at five UK medica…

  • Sexual risk behaviour, viral load, and perceptions of HIV transmission among homosexually active Latino men

    Miguel Muñoz‐laboy, M Munõz-Laboy et al.ARTICLEAIDS Care2005

    The objective of the paper was to describe awareness of HIV medications and HIV viral load, and to assess the impact of HIV medications (including highly active antiretroviral therapy) and notions of viral load on sexual risk practices. This was an exploratory cross-sectional study of a non-random sample of 395 homosexually active Latino men in New York City. An anonymous self-administered questionnaire was used focusing on perceptions about HIV/…