How to conduct cost and value analyses in health professions education: AMEE Guide No. 139

Unpacking economic programme theory for supervision training: Preliminary steps towards realist economic evaluation

“…3,6 Interestingly, none of the recent commentaries or guides on economic evaluations in health professions education research mention REE. 3,4 This is perhaps because of three key reasons: (1) realist evaluation has only become popular in medical education recently [13][14][15][16][17] ; (2) the REE literature is in its early infancy 10,[18][19][20] ; and (3) economic and realist evaluations differ considerably with respect to their theoretical bases, conceptions of causality, research and policy aims, data types, optimal study designs and generalisability/transferability concerns. 10,18 See Box 1 for a glossary of realist and economic terms.…”

“…21, p. 217 Deterministic sensitivity analysis: an approach to considering alternative versions of an economic evaluation (sensitivity analysis) conducted by defining specific (determined) plausible alternatives for one or more variables, and then substituting each of these alternatives to recalculate the economic result. 4 Ingredients method: a systematic approach to selecting, measuring and pricing the resources (referred to as ingredients) consumed by an educational activity in order to calculate the cost of the activity. 4 Mechanism: a causal explanation about how a programme generates (or fails to generate) an outcome pattern in a particular context.…”

“…Medical education is expensive yet occurs in resource-constrained environments, [1][2][3] with growing expectations from various stakeholders (e.g., learners, educators, programme directors and policy makers) about the financial transparency and efficiency of educational programmes. [2][3][4] Although studies evaluating monetary costs are becoming increasingly popular in medical education, 4,5 their quality are often suboptimal, with many evaluating cost without a corresponding measure of educational or health outcomes. 2,5,6 Furthermore, although many scholars stress the context-dependent nature of cost-related research 1,[5][6][7][8][9] and argue for the use and development of theory, 4,6,7 to our knowledge, no cost-related research has yet been conducted in health professions education that privilege both context and the development/testing of economic programme theory as in realist economic evaluation (REE).…”

“…[2][3][4] Although studies evaluating monetary costs are becoming increasingly popular in medical education, 4,5 their quality are often suboptimal, with many evaluating cost without a corresponding measure of educational or health outcomes. 2,5,6 Furthermore, although many scholars stress the context-dependent nature of cost-related research 1,[5][6][7][8][9] and argue for the use and development of theory, 4,6,7 to our knowledge, no cost-related research has yet been conducted in health professions education that privilege both context and the development/testing of economic programme theory as in realist economic evaluation (REE). 10 Therefore, the current study addresses a methodological gap in the current literature by employing preliminary steps towards REE to unpack economic programme theory for supervision training programmes.…”

Funding models for clinical education in allied health

“…1 Based on the University of Queensland Enterprise Agreement, a conservative estimate of clinical educator cost is $AU48 per educator hour, 3 with additional costs arising related to equipment, facilities, and support staff. 4 In comparison, Victorian universities are charged a maximum of $AU37.15 per student day for allied health student placements by the host health services. 5 Note that there is currently no standardised fee schedule in Queensland, 6 which, according to supply and demand economic theory, should lead to an increase in the cost of placements to universities given the paucity of placement supply relative to demand.…”