Effects of basic clinical skills training on objective structured clinical examination performance

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Clinical Skills Training
• Communication Skills Development

Background:

• Curriculum reform in medical education aims to enhance clinical and communication skills.
• Existing research on the effectiveness of such reforms yields conflicting results.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a reformed curriculum focused on communication and clinical skills.
• To compare the performance of students in an experimental group with a control group.

Main Methods:

• A static group design study involving internal medicine students.
• Experimental group received communication, skills-laboratory, and bedside teaching.
• Control group received traditional bedside teaching only.
• Performance assessed via Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) and objective structured clinical examination (OSCE).

Main Results:

• The experimental group significantly outperformed the control group on the OSCE (P < 0.01).
• No significant difference was observed between groups on the MCQ test (P < 0.15).
• Targeted training improved practical skills but not knowledge compared to the traditional curriculum.

Conclusions:

• Curriculum reform emphasizing communication and clinical skills is effective.
• Improved performance in history taking and physical examination skills observed.
• The reform enhances practical skill acquisition without negatively impacting knowledge retention.