We ask if assessment during medical training should not only address competencies but also support professional identity formation.

Professional identity formation can be understood as a process that socializes learners into thinking, feeling, and acting in an expected way. It includes interactions with co-workers who contribute as role models, who frame the expectations to the learners, and who give explicit feedback.

In previous studies, we identified how Multisource Feedback may help shape an individual’s professional identity (Hennel et al., 2022 LINK). Starting from there, we ask how formative assessment in general might best be used to support professional identity development.

The symposium might be interesting for guests with backgrounds in medical education, sociology, psychology, and gender studies. We will discuss questions on assessment bias, the reproduction of stereotypes due to assessment, and strategies to avoid assessment bias.

We are looking forward to discussing what medical educators might learn from other disciplines.