Assessing medical student effectiveness from the psychiatric patient's perspective: the Medical Student Interviewing...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Psychiatry
• Psychometric Evaluation

Background:

• Assessing medical student performance in psychiatry is crucial for effective training.
• Patient feedback offers a unique perspective on the quality of care provided by trainees.
• Existing measures may not fully capture the nuances of patient-physician interactions in psychiatric settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a patient-completed rating scale for medical student effectiveness in psychiatry.
• To assess patient satisfaction with care provided by medical students during psychiatric clerkships.
• To provide recommendations for integrating patient feedback into psychiatry medical education.

Main Methods:

• Development and pilot-testing of the Medical Student Interviewing Performance Scale (MSIPQ).
• Data collection from 102 psychiatric inpatients rating 35 third-year medical students over an academic year.
• Statistical analyses including principal components analysis to examine scale reliability and validity.

Main Results:

• The MSIPQ demonstrated good reliability and consisted of two subscales: 'Rapport' and 'Treatment Feedback.'
• Both subscales uniquely predicted overall patient ratings of rapport and treatment helpfulness.
• Psychiatric inpatients reported high satisfaction with the student-patient relationship and the quality of care received.

Conclusions:

• The MSIPQ is a reliable and valid tool for assessing medical student effectiveness from a patient's perspective.
• Patient feedback can significantly enhance the training of medical students in psychiatry.
• The findings support the integration of patient-reported outcomes in psychiatric medical education.