Intern preparedness for the CanMEDS roles and the Dunning-Kruger effect: a survey.

Intern preparedness for tasks and roles varied but was generally satisfactory. Based on the analysis of the data seeming discrepancies in between interns and supervisor ratings were investigated and explanations are offered. For three roles the data indicate that their component tasks are understood in the same way by interns and supervisors, but not for the other roles. The Dunning-Kruger effect offers a plausible explanation for higher intern scores for tasks in six of the roles. For the 'Professional' role differences between interns' internal, individual understanding and supervisors' external, group understanding may explain lower intern scores. The fact that respondents may understand the tasks they rate differently has implications for all research of this nature.