An Objective Method of Assessing the Clinical Abilities of Dietetics Interns

Perceived Benefits of a Standardized Patient Simulation in Pre-Placement Dietetic Students

“…In addition, our findings provide insight into key modulators to enhance confidence in dietetic students when embedding SBL experiences in curriculum. Given the cost and resourcing required to implement SBL [4,42], future research on the frequency of SBL and its impact on confidence as well as competence development is warranted to shed further light on curriculum design for educators.…”

“…Traditionally, SBL is not included in all dietetic programs due to lack of resources to develop high quality, realistic simulation scenarios, as well as access to simulation laboratories, and skilled staff to implement SBL [3]. The use of simulated patients in Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) have and still is being used in some dietetic programs to assess dietetic skills [4][5][6] with positive feedback from students as an effective and positive learning experience [5,7,8]. The use of different types of SBL, apart from OSCEs, in dietetic education is emerging [3], with evidence supporting its success in the development of critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills [9], counselling skills [10,11], communication and behaviour change skills [12], increased self-efficacy in nutrition care [13], as well as competence in communication and nutrition care [14].…”

An observational study investigating the impact of simulated patients in teaching communication skills in preclinical dietetic students

“…However, the use of SPs can be costly and labour intensive (19,20) . Although there has been much research investigating the use of SPs in dietetics for student assessment and satisfaction (12,17,(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26) , there is limited evaluation in measuring their effectiveness for skill development in dietetics.…”