Measuring the Effects of an Observation Training Program for First-Year Medical Students

Abstract

Accurate observation and the ability to describe clinical findings are critical aspects of practicing medicine. Medical schools often do not formally teach these skills, and there is no precise way to measure observational skills. The purpose of this study was to create a more useful scoring rubric for narrative descriptions in order to evaluate a training program designed to enhance observation skills in first-year medical students. Students participated in a multi-faceted clinical observation training program. Training sessions were led by an art educator and a physician, and two podcasts were assigned. Participants and a control group took pre-/post-tests that required writing narrative descriptions of clinical images. Blinded reviewers scored responses using a holistic rubric modified from an earlier study. The modified scoring rubric resulted in consistent scoring of responses among reviewers. The experimental group had a statistically significant increase between pre-test and post-test scores, as compared to the control group. Student feedback regarding the program was positive. The modified scoring rubric enabled more accurate and consistent scoring of narrative responses pre- and post- intervention. Participation in this multi-faceted observation training program led to more detailed descriptions of clinical images, as measured by the scoring rubric.