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Standardised clients as assessors in a veterinary communication OSCE: a reliability and validity study
E Artemiou1, C L Adams2, K G Hecker2
1Department of Clinical Sciences, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, West Farm, PO Box 127, St. Kitts, West Indies.
The Veterinary Record
|August 30, 2014
Summary
Standardised clients (SC) provide a reliable and valid method for assessing veterinary students' communication skills in Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE). This approach offers a feasible alternative to faculty assessment in veterinary education.
Area of Science:
- Veterinary Medical Education
- Communication Skills Assessment
- Standardised Patient Methodology
Background:
- Standardised patients (SP) are established in human medicine for assessing communication skills in Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE).
- Faculty assessment in OSCEs requires significant resources for recruitment, time, and coordination.
- Evaluating alternative assessors like standardised clients (SC) is crucial for efficient veterinary education.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the viability of standardised clients (SC) for evaluating veterinary students' communication performance.
- To determine the reliability and validity of SC assessments in a veterinary communication OSCE.
- To compare SC assessment with faculty assessment using established tools.
Main Methods:
- A four-station, two-track communication skills OSCE was designed for second-year veterinary students (n=96).
- Standardised clients (SC) utilized the adapted Liverpool Undergraduate Communication Assessment Scale (LUCAS).
- Faculty assessors employed a Calgary-Cambridge Guide (CCG) checklist and a global rating scale.
Main Results:
- Intrastation reliability for LUCAS ranged from 0.63 to 0.82; for CCG, it ranged from 0.73 to 0.87.
- Interstation reliability coefficients were 0.85 for LUCAS and 0.89 for CCG.
- Significant correlations were found between SC (LUCAS) and faculty (CCG) scores (r=0.45) and global ratings (r=0.49), supporting construct validity.
Conclusions:
- Standardised clients (SC) demonstrate reliability and validity as assessors in veterinary communication OSCEs.
- SC assessment offers a feasible and effective alternative to faculty assessment, reducing resource demands.
- This study supports the integration of SCs into veterinary communication skills evaluation.
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