Application of standardized patients in intensive training of clinical skills for general practice trainees and its effectiveness

Abstract

Objective To explore application of standardized patients (SPs) in intensive training of clinical competency for general practice trainees. Methods Fifty-three general practice trainees in Shanghai Zhongshan Hospital were enrolled in the study, randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. Control group proceeded in routine clinical rotation, while intervention group accepted intensive training course with SPs as trainers. Three months after intervention, clinical skills of the two groups were compared in a simulated medical environment. Results There was no statistically significant difference in their baseline characteristics between the two groups (P ＞0.05). Competency in history taking, physical examinations,communication with patients, comprehensive consultation, medical record writing as well as case-analysis,improved significantly in intervention group after intervention, as compared to those before it ( P ＜ 0. 01 ),with the highest score of communication skill of 82 ± 10. Although competency of history taking, physical examinations, comprehensive consultation, medical record writing also improved significantly three months later in control group as compared to their baselines (P ＜ 0. 01 ), while no statistically significant difference in their communication skills was found ( P ＞ 0. 05 ). Scores of skills in physician-patient communication,comprehensive consultation as well as medical record analysis were significantly higher in intervention group than those in control one after intervention ( P ＜ 0. 01 ), but no significant difference in physical examinations was found between the two groups ( P ＞ 0. 05 ). Conclusions Application of SP in intensive training course for clinical competency can remarkably improve their competency in interpersonal communication and comprehensive consultation for general practice trainees. Key words: Teaching ; Patient,simulation ; Clinical skills ;