Assessing Competency in Family Medicine Residents Using the Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine Mini-Clinical...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Competency-Based Assessment
• Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine

Background:

• The Mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise (Mini-CEX) is a validated direct observation tool for workplace-based skills assessment in graduate medical education.
• A gap exists in the literature regarding Mini-CEX application for assessing Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) skills in family medicine residents.
• An OMM Mini-CEX was developed to address this specific assessment need.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the perceived effectiveness of the OMM Mini-CEX as an assessment tool for OMM core competencies among family medicine residents.
• To determine if the OMM Mini-CEX is a useful formative evaluation method in this context.

Main Methods:

• The OMM Mini-CEX was implemented with family medicine residents and faculty at The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education.
• Participants completed surveys to gauge their perceptions of the OMM Mini-CEX's usefulness and effectiveness.
• Data were collected over two survey cycles within a 7-month period.

Main Results:

• A total of 81 survey responses were analyzed, demonstrating high internal consistency (Cronbach α=0.93).
• Respondents who understood the general purpose of Mini-CEX and viewed it as useful reported higher perceived effectiveness scores for the OMM Mini-CEX.
• A statistically significant difference was found in perceived effectiveness based on prior Mini-CEX utility perception (P=.047).

Conclusions:

• The OMM Mini-CEX appears to be a valuable direct observation tool for assessing OMM core competencies in family medicine residents.
• Further research is recommended to explore its effectiveness in other medical specialties and in undergraduate medical education.
• The study supports the OMM Mini-CEX as a viable method for formative assessment in OMM training.