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Strategies for training standardized patient instructors for a competency exam
Hitoshi Amano1, Tsukasa Sano, Kinuko Gotoh
1Department of Pharmacological Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Showa University, Hatanodai 1-5-8, Shinagawa-ku Tokyo, Japan. amano@dent.showa-u.ac.jp
Journal of Dental Education
|October 7, 2004
Summary
A new training program effectively prepares simulated patients (SPs) for medical interviews in Japan's Common Achievement Test (CAT). Newly trained SPs demonstrated high reliability and efficiency, comparable to experienced professionals during Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs).
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Clinical Skills Assessment
Background:
- The Common Achievement Test (CAT) in Japan, starting in 2005, utilizes medical interviews within Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs).
- Standardized/Simulated Patient instructors (SPs) are crucial for realistic patient role-playing, requiring effective training for symptom and emotional affect portrayal.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of a newly developed three-day training program for in-school SP instructors.
- To assess the reliability and efficiency of newly trained SPs compared to veteran SPs in OSCE medical interviews.
Main Methods:
- Seven individuals underwent a three-day training program to become in-school SP instructors.
- A comparison study was conducted, evaluating correlations between scores from official evaluators and both newly trained (in-school) SPs and veteran SPs (≥5 years experience) post-OSCE.
Main Results:
- Spearman significance testing revealed high correlations between evaluator scores and scores from both in-school SPs (r=0.73) and veteran SPs (r=0.77).
- The correlation coefficients for newly trained and veteran SPs were nearly identical, indicating comparable performance.
Conclusions:
- The developed training program for SP instructors is effective, demonstrating high reliability and efficiency.
- This protocol provides a robust method for preparing SPs for high-stakes medical assessments like the CAT OSCE.