The effect of standardized patient inquiry training on the quality of medical record written by the pediatric interns

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect of standardized patient (SP) inquiry training on the quality of medical record written by pediatric interns. Methods One hundred and sixty interns of five-year medical education program in pediatric department were divided into experimental group and control group. After collecting typical cases, the teachers carried out SP inquiry training for 6 times in the experimental group. The teachers simulated the patients' parents and the interns inquired the medical history. At the end of training, the teachers pointed out the merit and defect of the interns. The teachers didn't carry out SP inquiry training in the control group. According to the same standards of grading, the teachers graded and compared medical record scores between the two groups. Results The medical record scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than that of the control group. The scores of format, history of present illness, past history, personal history, family history, diagnosis and differential diagnosis of the experimental group were higher than that of the control group. Conclusions SP inquiry training can help the interns to improve the integrality of inquiry, the clarity of thinking in clinical affairs, the communication skills, and then to improve the quality of medical record written by the pediatric interns. Key words: Standardized patient; Inquiry training; Pediatrics; Intern; Medical record