Cross-sectional evaluation of a longitudinal consultation skills course at a new UK medical school

Abstract

BackgroundGood communication is a crucial element of good clinical care, and it is important to provide appropriate consultation skills teaching in undergraduate medical training to ensure that doctors have the necessary skills to communicate effectively with patients and other key stakeholders. This article aims to provide research evidence of the acceptability of a longitudinal consultation skills strand in an undergraduate medical course, as assessed by a cross-sectional evaluation of students' perceptions of their teaching and learning experiences.MethodsA structured questionnaire was used to collect student views. The questionnaire comprised two parts: 16 closed questions to evaluate content and process of teaching and 5 open-ended questions. Questionnaires were completed at the end of each consultation skills session across all year groups during the 2006-7 academic year (5 sessions in Year 1, 3 in Year 2, 3 in Year 3, 10 in Year 4 and 10 in Year 5). 2519 questionnaires were returned in total.ResultsStudents rated Tutor Facilitation most favourably, followed by Teaching, then Practice & Feedback, with suitability of the Rooms being most poorly rated. All years listed the following as important aspects they had learnt during the session:• how to structure the consultation• importance of patient-centredness• aspects of professionalism (including recognising own limits, being prepared, generally acting professionally).All years also noted that the sessions had increased their confidence, particularly through practice.ConclusionsOur results suggest that a longitudinal and integrated approach to teaching consultation skills using a well structured model such as Calgary-Cambridge, facilitates and consolidates learning of desired process skills, increases student confidence, encourages integration of process and content, and reinforces appreciation of patient-centredness and professionalism.

Evaluating Educational Interventions in Emergency Medicine

“…Many satisfaction surveys have showed that learners prefer this method of training over traditional programs. 25,26 Moreover, outcome studies reveal that students trained in longitudinal models perform at least as well as their traditionally trained peers. From the Harvard program, students completing a longitudinal course performed at least as well as peers in traditional clerkships on the National Board of Medical Examiners subject exams and objective structured clinical exams and scored higher on year-end clinical skills self-assessment exams.…”

Avaliação do profissionalismo em estudantes da área da saúde: uma revisão sistemática

“…The other studies (Papageorgiou et al 16 ; Redwood et al 22 ; Huntoon et al 20 ; Brehm et al 12 ; Zink, Halaas and Brooks 4 ) used assessments of professionalism associated with practical experiences and the application of health teaching strategies, thereby demonstrating a dimension of doing/simulating. These studies reached the "Shows" and "Does" levels of the pyramid represented in Figure 2 of the present study, revealing a dimension of the research in the practical field.…”

“…It is known that professionalism should be assessed longitudinally and combine different approaches to collect the personal, interpersonal, institutional and social characteristics of the individual assessed, which is an international challenge15. Faced with this question, it stands yet the importance of qualitative evaluation of the attributes of professionalism, in view the concept of complexity and its practical application 4,16 .…”

“…With regards to the five studies classified in the "Show" and Does" domains of Miller's pyramid (Papageorgiou et al 16 ; Redwood et al 22 ; Huntoon et al 20 ; Brehm et al 12 ; Zink,…”

“…The 7 articles were published between 2006 and 2012 and were conducted in the USA (Biagiole et al 19 ; Huntoon et al 20 ; Brehm et al 12 ; Zink, Hallas and Brooks 4 ); the UK (Chaytor et al 21 ; Papageorgiou et al 16 ) and Australia (Redwood and Townsend 22 ). Thus, the majority were published in the United States after the year 2011, which further highlights the fact that the debate about assessments of professionalism has gained importance in recent years.…”