The 7 Elements Communication Rating Form for Teaching and Assessing Medical Communication Competency

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Communication Skills Assessment

Background:

• Medical communication is vital for patient satisfaction and clinical care.
• Teaching and evaluating communication skills presents challenges.
• Existing tools may lack efficiency or effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present and validate the 7 Elements Communication Rating Form (7E-CRF).
• To establish the 7E-CRF as a dual-purpose teaching and assessment tool.
• To evaluate the 7E-CRF's efficacy in medical education.

Main Methods:

• A 14-item checklist, the 7E-CRF, was validated using face, concurrent, and predictive validity.
• 661 medical students at West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) were studied.
• Student performance was assessed across various academic settings and compared to COMLEX Level 2-PE scores.

Main Results:

• The 7E-CRF demonstrated strong interrater reliability and predictive validity.
• The 7E-CRF identified students at a 10-fold increased risk of failure on the COMLEX Level 2-PE Humanistic Domain.
• The tool showed significant correlation with student performance on a key licensure exam component.

Conclusions:

• The 7E-CRF integrates instruction and assessment effectively.
• Its simplicity, evidence-based design, and ease of use make it highly valuable.
• The 7E-CRF is a recommended instrument for medical schools to evaluate communication competency.