Abstract
In this study, the efficacy of a clinical teaching tool, objectively structured clinical teaching (OSCT) was assessed by comparing students’ performance in assessing standardised patients (SPs) and real patients (RPs). The final-year students were randomly divided into two arms and their performance in three different disciplines such as medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology (O&G) and primary care medicine (PCM) was assessed with RPs in one arm and SPs/simulated patients in the other. The assessments were conducted in history-taking, clinical examination and management stations by the content experts under a structured rubric. Students’ scores in each arm were compared in the respective disciplines and overall. The perceptions of both students and SPs were recorded. The OSCT and rotational average scores of the participant students in SPs and RPs were compared. The students’ mean scores for their rotational exam and OSCT were 65.31 ± 5.56 and 61.14 ± 8.53, respectively. The performance at the management station in O&G was significantly higher compared with medicine and PCM. The overall performance at all other stations in the three disciplines was comparable, with no significant difference. The reliability and content validity of OSCT was established by calculating Cronbach’s alpha and testing content validity. The results indicated that OSCT is an innovative and effective teaching tool that can be used in clinical teaching in the early clinical years to lower the student load in hospitals in a cost-effective manner.
Highlights
Clinical medicine teaching has traditionally been done at the patient’s bedside; as Sir William Osler commented, “Medicine is learned by the bedside and not in the classroom
It is proposed that objectively structured clinical teaching (OSCT) with standardised patients (SPs) is effective teaching tool, as conventional bedside teaching (BST)
OSCT is an innovative approach to improving clinical skills among medical students in a controlled atmosphere
Summary
Clinical medicine teaching has traditionally been done at the patient’s bedside; as Sir William Osler commented, “Medicine is learned by the bedside and not in the classroom. Let not your concepts of the manifestations of disease come from words heard in the lecture room or read from the book” [1]. It has been observed in the last two decades that this teaching modality is in decline. Young medical graduates do not grasp the importance of clinical skills in making a diagnosis. They are more dependent on lab reports and imaging techniques for diagnosis. This leads to a gradual absence of a healing touch, empathy and compassion in medical care
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