Face-to-face clinical skills feedback: lessons from the analysis of standardized patient's work

Current evidence suggests that trainees are evaluated less stringently when feedback is given face-to-face, limiting its value.

We expected that standardized patients (SPs) would also be more lenient in scoring when they gave immediate feedback to the students.

Data from 6 clinical skills assessments of students in Years 1 to 4 of medical school were used. Comparisons in scoring were made for the cases on which students received feedback and those where they did not. Analysis was done using a hierarchical linear regression model to test for significant differences.

The results indicated no significant difference in scoring for the history and physical exam checklists. There was a small but significant difference on the measure of interpersonal and interviewing skills.

The SPs were trained to avoid stringency, leniency, and restricted range in scoring students. These training methods may be useful for training faculty to give face-to-face feedback.