The digital pen as a novel device to facilitate the feedback process

Area of Science:

• Medical Education Technology
• Clinical Skills Assessment
• Quality Assurance in Healthcare

Background:

• Effective clinical performance assessment requires timely feedback for students and robust data for quality assurance.
• Current methods may lack efficiency in delivering immediate feedback and data management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the digital pen as a tool for clinical performance assessment.
• To gauge examiner satisfaction with the digital pen technology.
• To explore the utility of data generated by digital pens for quality assurance.

Main Methods:

• Digital pen technology was implemented to transmit handwritten assessments to a database.
• PDF reports were automatically generated and sent to students' email addresses.
• Descriptive statistical analysis was used for examiner satisfaction and checklist data.

Main Results:

• Examiners expressed significant satisfaction with the digital pen system.
• The technology yielded valuable data for refining objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) stations and criteria.
• Data facilitated identification of student training needs and provided feedback on examiner rating skills.

Conclusions:

• Digital pen technology is a practical solution for distributing completed checklists to students.
• The system effectively generates valuable data for enhancing clinical performance assessment and quality assurance processes.