Using a modified course experience questionnaire (CEQ) to evaluate the innovative teaching of medical communication skills.

Abstract

At the Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine first-year students take two courses in health communication. In the Centre for Medical Sciences Education students completed a course experience questionnaire. This instrument is potentially useful in evaluating innovative programmes and securing support for their development. The Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine was the first of three campuses to introduce compulsory health communication courses in 1995. Using a modified form of the 25-item course experience questionnaire (CEQ25) (Broomfield & Bligh, 1998) normally employed in overall degree or course evaluation, this study developed a 30-item questionnaire (CEQ30) to test its applicability to the evaluation of medical communication skills teaching In 1997 - 1998 medical, dentistry, veterinary medicine and pharmacy students completed the original short form of the CEQ25 including five items specific to medical communication skills teaching. Students used a five-point Likert scale ranging from one, indicating that they strongly disagreed with the statement, to a score of five, reporting that they strongly agreed with the statement. Principal Components Analysis with Varimax rotation analysed the scale structure of the evaluation tool. The principal components factor analysis of responses (n = 165) broadly confirmed five of Broomfield and Bligh's six factors, but identified a sixth factor in their original instrument (appropriate assessment) that split into two, and a seventh factor, use of available materials and resources. The modified CEQ30 is a reliable instrument with which to evaluate a course in medical communication skills, and encourage reflection on teaching and course design. Its use is applicable to medical courses during overall curriculum change and innovation in a medical school.