Changes in Student Performance and Confidence with a Standardized Patient and Standardized Colleague...

To assess the impact of a standardized patient and standardized colleague interprofessional activity on student performance and perceived confidence in communicating with patients and physicians.

Students in the third professional year were presented with a practice and final activity including a standardized patient interaction, SOAP note preparation, and standardized colleague interaction. Student performance was measured by assessment rubrics on practice and final activities. Students' perceived confidence was measured via presurvey and postsurvey.

Students performed significantly better from the practice to the final activity with regard to communicating with patients, SOAP note, and the overall activity with a mean difference (95% CI) of 9.2 (6.9-11.5), 3.6 (1.3-5.8), and 3.9 (2.0-5.7), respectively. There was a positive significant change from presurvey to postsurvey in students' confidence talking to patients and physicians on majority of questions.

This study demonstrates that active learning and integrated assessments improve overall student performance. Integration of interprofessional education also has positive effects on students' perceived confidence.