Breast examination instruction by a standardized patient instructor

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Clinical Skills Training
• Standardized Patient Methodology

Background:

• Effective clinical skills instruction is crucial for medical students.
• Standardized patients (SPs) are increasingly used in medical training.
• Comparing SP instructors to traditional faculty instruction is important for optimizing teaching methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of standardized patient (SP) instructors in teaching breast examination skills.
• To compare the impact of instruction delivered by an SP instructor versus a professor on student performance and perception.

Main Methods:

• Fifty-four third-year medical students and 4 SPs participated.
• Students underwent pretest and posttest assessments of breast examination performance and perception.
• Students were randomized into small-group instruction with either an SP instructor or a professor; t-tests analyzed score differences.

Main Results:

• No significant difference in breast examination performance was observed between students taught by SP instructors and professors (p=0.270).
• Students instructed by professors reported significantly higher self-confidence in performing breast examinations (p=0.026).
• Students instructed by SPs perceived higher reliability of the instruction compared to those taught by professors (p=0.011).

Conclusions:

• Instruction by SP instructors is as effective as traditional professor-led instruction for breast examination performance.
• SP instructors significantly enhance students' perception of instruction reliability.
• SP instructors demonstrate a powerful impact on both student performance and perception in clinical skills training.