Investigating the effect of using "standard patient" on improving the history taking of clinical medicine students

Abstract:

Background:

 SP (Standardized Patient) serves as a context for medical students to experience the real situation for taking history and communication with patients. This instructional method was used for the first time in Isfahan Medical School to improve the history-taking and communication skills of third-year medical students.

Methods:

Some volunteers were trained for ten hours to be SPs. Ninety-five third-year medical students who took the “History taking and physical examination” course, put into two groups: SP group, and lecture group. This course was presented in small groups facilitated by trained GPs. In the SP group, three SPs played three different scenarios in order to practice history taking and communication skills. In the lecture group, facilitators and students discussed the same topics. Finally, the student's history-taking and communication skills were evaluated through an OSCE. The checklist for the exam was adapted from the Calgary-Cambridge guide, including nineteen items and a global rating.

Results:

The results showed no significant differences between items in the two groups. The global rating was significantly higher in the SP group in contrast to the lecture group. (P< .05)

Conclusion:

The results obviously showed the efficacy of the SP instructional method in order to improve students’ history taking and communication skills. Although using SP in educational programs is expensive and time-consuming, but it is highly recommended for teaching history and physical examination courses.

Keywords: standardized patient, simulated patient, history taking, communication skills

پايان نامه جهت اخذ درجه

كارشناسي ارشد آموزش پزشكي