Changes in medical students' patient-centeredness attitudes by implementation of clinical performance examination

From 2009, the Korean Medical Licensure Exam implemented a clinical performance examination (CPX) that highlighted the importance of good patient-physician relationships in medical education. This study aimed to examine changes in medical students' attitudes before and after implementation of the CPX in their medical education curriculum.

In 2006 and 2009, 236 fourth-year medial students of C College of Medicine took the Patient Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS) by Krupet et al. (2000), which measures patient-centered attitudes in patient-physician relationships. The data were analyzed by independent t-test and two-way analysis of variance using SPSS 21.0.

The PPOS scores of year 2006 students were 3.88±0.25 for males and 3.98±0.38 for females. For year 2009 students, males scored 3.81±0.42 and females scored 4.01±0.48. All students had higher Care scores than Share scores (2006: Share, 3.67±0.47 vs. Care, 4.19±0.51; 2009: Share, 3.56±0.34 vs. Care, 4.18±0.53). There were significant differences in PPOS and Share scores by gender before and after the CPX. With regard to Care scores, female students' scores tended to rise and males' scores declined over time.

An educational program is needed for students to foster patient-centered attitudes, but gender differences should be taken into account.