Six formats in simulated and standardized patients use, based on experiences of 13 undergraduate medical curricula in Belgium and the Netherlands

Integrating medical and practical skills in communication skills training: Do students feel it supports them with transfer from classroom to practice?

Objective

To describe innovations in a clinical communication skills training (CCST) program, aimed at facilitating transfer of communication skills from classroom to clinical practice and report student's evaluations regarding this program.

Methods

To facilitate transfer, we integrated CCS with medical and practical skills, and we developed simulation sessions closely resembling clinical practice in case-history's, length of consultation, and patient-population. Feedback was given on communication skills and medical knowledge and skills. Student's opinions about whether these elements were helpful, were evaluated using a questionnaire.

Results

Responses of 144 students were analyzed. The majority of the respondents agreed that this CCST program helped them with transfer of CCS from classroom to clinical practice, as did the feedback on medical content and communication skills in the same session.

Conclusion

Students indicate that simulations resembling clinical practice and feedback on both CST and medical content facilitate the transfer of their skills to clinical practice.

Innovation

This CCST program is innovative because it integrates medical and practical skills, with elements aiming to create an educational environment resembling clinical practice as closely as possible in order to facilitate transfer to clinical practice.

Fifteen simulated patient working formats to use in communication skills training: Report of a survey

OBJECTIVE

Simulated and standardized patients (SPs) are increasingly being used in communication skills training for healthcare professionals' education. Despite this broad use of SPs, there is no recent literature with an overview on SP working formats being used. We ran a study to fill this gap.

METHODS

First, a survey on formats on the use of SPs in various curricula for education of healthcare professionals in Belgium and The Netherlands was run by members of the Dutch Association of Medical Education Special Interest Group on Simulated and Standardized patients (SIG-NL/B). Then the SIG-NL/B organized a national workshop where professionals working with or interested in SPs were invited to come forward with SP working formats they used. They were also asked to provide relevant details about the use. Finally, the outcomes of these two phases were combined.

RESULTS

Fifteen SP working formats were found. Six of them were described before. The details of all formats are listed and discussed.

CONCLUSION

We categorised 15 SP working formats. The choice to use a particular format is mainly based on the learning objectives of the session involved and the expertise at hand.

Co-constructive Patient Simulation: A Learner-Centered Method to Enhance Communication and Reflection Skills

INTRODUCTION

In simulation sessions using standardized patients (SPs), it is the instructors, rather than the learners, who traditionally identify learning goals. We describe co-constructive patient simulation (CCPS), an experiential method in which learners address self-identified goals.

METHODS

In CCPS, a designated learner creates a case script based on a challenging clinical encounter. The script is then shared with an actor who is experienced working as an SP in medical settings. An instructor with experience in the model is involved in creating, editing, and practicing role play of the case. After co-creation of the case, learners with no prior knowledge of the case (peers or a supervisor) interview the SP. The clinical encounter is followed by a group debriefing session.

RESULTS

We conducted 6 CCPS sessions with senior trainees in child and adolescent psychiatry. Topics that are difficult to openly talk about may be especially appropriate for the CCPS model-without overt guidance or solicitation, the scripts developed by learners for this series involved: medical errors and error disclosure; racial tensions, including overt racism; interprofessional conflict; transphobia; patient-on-provider violence; sexual health; and the sharing of vulnerability and personal imperfections in the clinical setting.

CONCLUSIONS

Co-constructive patient simulation provides an alternative multistage and multimodal approach to traditional SP simulation sessions that can adapt iteratively and in real time to new clinical vicissitudes and challenges This learner-centered model holds promise to enrich simulation-based education by fostering autonomous, meaningful, and relevant experiences that are in alignment with trainees' self-identified learning goals.

Standardized examinees: development of a new tool to evaluate factors influencing OSCE scores and to train examiners

Introduction: The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is an established format for practical clinical assessments at most medical schools and discussion is underway in Germany to make it part of future state medical exams. Examiner behavior that influences assessment results is described. Erroneous assessments of student performance can result, for instance, from systematic leniency, inconsistent grading, halo effects, and even a lack of differentiation between the tasks to be performed over the entire grading scale. The aim of this study was to develop a quality assurance tool that can monitor factors influencing grading in a real OSCE and enable targeted training of examiners. Material, Methods and Students: Twelve students at the Medical Faculty of the University of Heidelberg were each trained to perform a defined task for a particular surgical OSCE station. Definitions were set and operationalized for an excellent and a borderline performance. In a simulated OSCE during the first part of the study, the standardized student performances were assessed and graded by different examiners three times in succession; video recordings were made. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the videos was also undertaken by the study coordinator. In the second part of the study, the videos were used to investigate the examiners' acceptance of standardized examinees and to analyze potential influences on scoring that stemmed from the examiners' experience. Results: In the first part of the study, the OSCE scores and subsequent video analysis showed that standardization for defined performance levels at different OSCE stations is generally possible. Individual deviations from the prescribed examinee responses were observed and occurred primarily with increased complexity of OSCE station content. In the second part of the study, inexperienced examiners assessed a borderline performance significantly lower than their experienced colleagues (13.50 vs. 15.15, p=0.035). No difference was seen in the evaluation of the excellent examinees. Both groups of examiners graded the item "ocial competence" - despite identical standardization - significantly lower for examinees with borderline performances than for excellent examinees (4.13 vs. 4.80, p<0.001). Conclusion: Standardization of examinees for previously defined performance levels is possible, making a new tool available in future not only for OSCE quality assurance, but also for training examiners. Detailed preparation of the OSCE checklists and intensive training of the examinees are essential. This new tool takes on a special importance if standardized OSCEs are integrated into state medical exams and, as such, become high-stakes assessments.

Faculty Development for Small-Group-Teaching with Simulated Patients (SP) - Design and Evaluation of a Competency-based Workshop

Objective: The introduction of innovative teaching formats and methods in medical education requires a specific didactic training for teachers to use complicated formats effectively. This paper describes preliminary considerations, design, implementation and evaluation of a skills-based workshop (7,5 hours long) for teaching with simulated patients. The aim is to describe the essential components for a lasting effect of the workshop so that the concept can be adapted to other contexts. Method: We present the theoretical framework, the objectives, the didactic methodology and the implementation of the workshop. The evaluation of the workshop was carried out using questionnaires. First the participants (teachers of the faculty of medicine, clinical and science subjects) were asked to estimate how well they felt prepared for small group teaching immediately after workshop. Later, after some teaching experience of their own, they gave feedback again as a part of the general evaluation of the semester. Results: In the course of three years 27 trainings were conducted and evaluated with a total of 275 participants. In the context of semester evaluation 452 questionnaires were evaluated on the quality of training. Conclusion: The evaluation shows that participants appreciate the concept of the workshop and also feel sufficiently well prepared. As a limitation it must be said that this is so far only the lecturers' self-assessment. Nevertheless, it can be stated that even a one-day workshop with a stringent teaching concept shows long term results regarding innovative teaching methods.

Communicative positioning of one's own profession in interprofessional settings

AIM

Interprofessional education (IPE) is taking on increasing importance in our complex healthcare system and receiving ever greater attention in the teaching of health science. The majority of concepts and methods employed in this area are based on normative ideas about interprofessional cooperation and only seldom based on empirical research. This paper is an initial attempt to augment this deductive approach with an inductive perspective for the purpose of subsequently providing empirical support for IPE teaching methods.

METHOD

Drawing on the qualitative approach to linguistic conversation analysis, language-based professional markers are identified on the basis of recorded classroom simulations with nursing and midwifery students; it is assumed that these markers are significant in relevant interprofessional communication processes and, as a result, influence actual collaboration between the health professions. These markers are classified and commented on, and their importance to teaching and practical implementation in interprofessional interaction is emphasized.

RESULTS

Students routinely use various professional markers in simulations. However, these occur much less frequently than initially expected, except when marking difference in relation to physicians. At the same time, all the interactions are shaped by pronounced self-presentation among the students, and this comprises a large aspect of the interactions observed here. Profession-specific communication and differentiation processes also appear to be slow in establishing themselves in terms of students delegating tasks or voicing expectations. In addition, the role of "student" has a function that should not be underestimated in these interactions.

CONCLUSION

Professional markers are an essential component of interprofessional communication and are based on numerous, observable linguistic phenomena, of which only a few are presented here. This empirical approach has not yet appeared in the discourse surrounding IPE; however, it is, in the authors' opinion, not only necessary to compare interprofessional interactions with lived reality, but also to be in a position to operationalize interprofessional practice and ultimately assign it to competency areas. For this reason, further empirical observations and analyses are needed to tighten the still unclear definition of interprofessional communication and to develop empirically founded, measurable criteria for teaching and testing.

Exploring the use of standardized patients for simulation-based learning in preparing advanced practice nurses

The use of standardized patients for simulation-based learning was integrated into the Master of Nursing curriculum in the 2012-2013 academic year. The study aimed to explore the Master of Nursing students' experiences with and perceptions of using standardized patients in simulations, and to identify the students' learning needs in preparing to become advanced practice nurses. The study adopted an exploratory descriptive qualitative design, using a focus group interview. The study was conducted at a university in Singapore. Seven Master of Nursing students who were enrolled in the Acute Care Track of Master of Nursing program in the 2012-2013 academic year participated in the study. The data were gathered at the end of the first semester. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. Three main categories - usefulness, clinical limitations, and realism - were identified in the study. The results revealed that the students felt using standardized patients was useful and realistic for developing skills in history taking, communication, and responding to an emergency situation. On the other hand, they found that the standardized patients were limited in providing critical signs and symptoms of case scenarios. To meet the learning objectives, future development and integration of standardized patients in the Master of Nursing curriculum might need to be considered along with the use of a high-fidelity simulator. This can be an alternative strategy to fill the gaps in each method. Obviously, using standardized patients for simulation-based learning has added value to the students' learning experiences. It is highly recommended that future studies explore the impact of using standardized patients on students' performance in clinical settings.

How we avoid patient shortage with an integrated analysis of learning objectives and clinical data during development of undergraduate medical curricula

Access to patients is a crucial factor for student-centred medical education. However, increasing numbers of students, teacher shortage, a patient spectrum consisting of rarer diseases, and quicker discharges limit this necessary access, and therefore pose a challenge for curriculum designers. The herein presented algorithm improves access to patients in four steps by using routinely available electronic patient data already during curriculum development. Step I: Learning objectives are mapped to appropriate ICD-10 (International Statistical Classification of Diseases) codes. Step II: It is determined which learning opportunities need to be considered first for patient allocation in order to maximise overall benefit. Step III: Hospital's departments with the highest expertise on respective learning objectives are assessed and selected for teaching. Step IV: Patients of the chosen department that present the best match for a given learning opportunity are assigned to participation. This integrated analysis of learning objectives and existing clinical data during curriculum development is a well-structured method to maximise access to patients. Furthermore, this algorithm identifies learning objectives of a curriculum that do not correspond well to the spectrum of patients of the respective teaching hospital and which should therefore be taught in learning formats without patient contact.

Frequency of high-quality communication behaviors used by primary care providers of heterozygous infants after newborn screening

OBJECTIVE

To examine the quality of communication likely to be experienced by parents when being first informed about how newborn screening identified heterozygous "carrier" status for cystic fibrosis or sickle cell disease.

METHODS

Primary care providers (PCPs) of infants found to have carrier status were telephoned over a 48-month period, and asked to rehearse with a standardized patient how they would inform the infants' parent(s). 214 rehearsal transcripts were abstracted using explicit criteria methods to measure the frequency of five categories of high-quality communication behaviors.

RESULTS

Overall, PCPs used large amounts of jargon and failed to use high quality communication behaviors. On average, PCPs used 18.6 total jargon words (8.7 unique words), but explained 2.4 jargon words. The most frequent assessment of understanding was the close-ended version, although it was only seen in 129 of 214 transcripts. The most common organizing behavior was importance emphasis (121/214). Precautionary empathy was rare; the most frequent behavior was "instruction about emotion" (33/214).

CONCLUSION

The limited use of high-quality communication behaviors in rehearsals raises concern about parental understanding, decision-making, and psychosocial outcomes after newborn screening.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Measurement of specific behaviors may help PCPs to improve communication, and thereby improve the patient experience.