The objectives describe specifically what needs to happen in order to accomplish the program goal. This includes who the participants in the program are and what they will do. It also includes products of the program, such as documents, databases, stand-alone programs, and so on. It is typical for a program to have more than one objective.

Think about these questions in relation to your program:

• Who are the participants and what will they do during the program?
  
  
• What will be the products of the program?

You might answer these questions like this:

In the Surgery Clerkship we will improve medical students’ communication skills related to patient education, shared decision-making and delivering bad news. By using experienced faculty as facilitators we hope to emphasize the clinical relevance of communication to the practice of surgery.

You can then summarize the answer into program objectives.

EXAMPLE

Below is an example of program objectives. Both objectives state the participants and what they will do during the program. The first objective describes what the participants will do (create a new form) and the second objective describes the results of using the product (the new form).

1. To improve medical students’ communication skills in patient education, shared decision-making and delivering bad news
2. To use experienced faculty as facilitators
3. To emphasize the clinical relevance of communication to the practice of surgery

WRITE YOUR OWN OBJECTIVES

In your Evaluation Planning Tool write your program objectives in column 2.

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