Assessing physical examination skills of senior medical students: knowing how versus knowing when
1David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1722, USA. lwilkerson@mednet.ucla.edu
Purpose:
Literature has documented a lack of physical examination proficiency among medical students. To investigate UCLA medical students' physical examination proficiency, this study compared their performance on a multiple-station Clinical Performance Examination (CPX) focused on clinical cases with that on a thorough physical examination objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) of the same organ systems.
Method:
One hundred sixty-three beginning fourth-year students participated in the study. Four organ systems were included in both the CPX and OSCE. Pearson's correlation coefficients and paired-sample t-tests were conducted to determine the correlations between and differences in the two tests.
Results:
The physical examination scores on the CPX were significantly (p <.001) lower both by organ subscale and in total than those on the OSCE. Correlation coefficients between the two tests were negligible.
Conclusions:
The study suggests that fourth-year medical students may demonstrate competency in directed examination of organ systems while being unable to correctly apply those examination skills to the work-up of clinical cases.
Related Concept Videos
Data Collection III
The principles to begin the physical assessment include conducting a comprehensive or problem-related history in a quiet, well-lit room, emphasizing privacy and comfort for the patient.
Assessment of Airway, Skin Color, and Use of Accessory Muscles
Introduction
The initial evaluation of a patient's respiratory system...
Nursing Assessment of the Genitourinary System II: Inspection and Palpation
Special considerations while measuring pulse
Nursing Assessment
The nurse collects all aspects of the patient's health in the initial assessment, establishing priorities for ongoing focused assessments and...
Nursing Process for Patient and Caregiver Teaching I: Assessment and Diagnosis
It is critical to determine the patient's learning needs during the assessment. Determination of learning needs compounds data from the...
