Are interpersonal skills ratings influenced by gender in a clinical skills assessment using standardized patients?

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore possible performance differences in interpersonal skills (IPS) ratings as a function of candidate and standardized patient (SP) gender. METHODOLOGY: The IPS scores and SP characteristics for 79,999 patient encounters were studied. This included 18,325 (20.36%) female candidate to female SP, 26,872 (29.86%) male candidate to female SP, 18,281 (20.31%) female candidate to male SP, and 16,521 (29.47%) male candidate to male SP interactions. RESULTS: The analysis did not reveal a significant candidate gender by SP gender effect. There were no meaningful differences in IPS scores as a function of SP or candidate gender. CONCLUSIONS: The non-significant interaction between SP gender and candidate gender provides some evidence that male and female candidates are being assessed equivalently by male and female SPs. This result, combined with the extremely weak relationship between gender (candidate or SP) and IPS ratings, provides additional support for the fairness and defensibility of the IPS measures.

The effect of formal feedback sessions on test security for a clinical practice examination using standardized patients.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of formal feedback on test security for a clinical practice examination administered to successive rotations over a year's time. METHOD: A seven case clinical performance examination was administered to ten rotations of students throughout an academic year in a required Ambulatory Care Clerkship. Three of the cases were developed at Saint Louis University School of Medicine (SLU); four of the cases were developed by the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). Immediately following each examination, the examinees participated in a feedback session for just the three SLU cases: checklists were displayed, and details of the cases were discussed. No feedback on the four NBME cases was provided. Student performance in successive rotations on the three cases in which students were given detailed feedback by the faculty was compared with performance on the four cases in which no feedback was given. SAMPLE: Data were collected from 119 students. RESULTS: The interaction of case and group was not significant, indicating no difference in the trend over the ten groups between the three cases for which feedback was provided and the four cases for which it was not. The results showed no significant increasing trend over the ten rotation groups for either cases where feedback was given or withheld. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the formal feedback sessions did not pose a threat to test security.