Impact of a standardized patient intervention to teach breast and abdominal examination skills to third year medical students at two institutions

BACKGROUND: This study examined whether a single intervention with standardized patients (SPs) as a supplement to traditional teaching during the surgery clerkship would enhance the breast and abdominal examination skills of third-year medical students. METHODS: During the academic year 1994-1995, 153 students from two institutions were assigned to control or experimental groups. At institution A, all students underwent pretests and posttests with SPs; at institution B, no pretest was conducted. All experimental students received group and one-to-one instruction with SPs during the intervention session. RESULTS: At posttest, the experimental group performed better than the control group on breast examination (P = 0.002), professionalism during this examination (P <0.001), abdominal examination (P <0.001), and professionalism during the latter examination (P = 0.050). The improvement from pretest to posttest at institution A was significantly greater in the experimental group than the control group for the breast examination (P = 0.036) and the abdominal examination (P <0.001). Analyses on a variety of specific tasks within each examination were also performed. CONCLUSION: A Single intervention with SPs teaching breast and abdominal examinations resulted in significant enhancement of these clinical skills. (C) 1997 by Excerpta Medica, Inc.