The relationship between physical therapy students' communication skills during a standardized patient examination...

Physical therapy education lacks validated tools for assessing student communication and professional behavior skills before clinical experiences (CE). The Gap Kalamazoo Communication Skills Assessment Form (GKCSAF) has been used in medical education to assess student communication skills. This study investigated: (1) the relationship between scores on a modified GKCSAF (mGKCSAF) during a standardized patient (SP) examination and professionalism domain scores on the Clinical Performance Instrument 2.0 (CPI) during a first full-time CE1 and (2) differences in mGKCSAF ratings across SPs, clinical instructors (CIs), and student self-assessments.

This retrospective study examined data from 73 first-year physical therapy students who completed a SP examination and were scored using the mGKCSAF before CE1. The mGKCSAF was scored by SPs, CIs, and the students themselves. At the end of CE1, students were assessed using the CPI. Spearman's rank-order correlations were used to determine the relationship between mGKCSAF scores and five professionalism domain scores on the CPI. A one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was performed to compare mGKCSAF ratings across rater groups. Post hoc Tukey's Honest Significant Difference (HSD) tests further explored differences among rater groups. G*Power analysis confirmed sufficient sample size.

Small statistically significant correlations existed between mGKCSAF SP ratings and CI CPI ratings during CE1 in professionalism domain categories. Student mGKCSAF self-assessment scores were significantly lower than assessments by SPs and CIs.

The mGKCSAF may be an effective tool to assess physical therapy student communication skills before CE1 when it is scored by SPs.