Dataset Information

Simulation Game Versus Multiple Choice Questionnaire to Assess the Clinical Competence of Medical Students: Prospective Sequential Trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The use of simulation games (SG) to assess the clinical competence of medical students has been poorly studied.

Objective

The objective of this study was to assess whether an SG better reflects the clinical competence of medical students than a multiple choice questionnaire (MCQ).

Methods

Fifth-year medical students in Paris (France) were included and individually evaluated on a case of pediatric asthma exacerbation using three successive modalities: high-fidelity simulation (HFS), considered the gold standard for the evaluation of clinical competence, the SG Effic'Asthme, and an MCQ designed for the study. The primary endpoint was the median kappa coefficient evaluating the correlation of the actions performed by the students between the SG and HFS modalities and the MCQ and HFS modalities. Student satisfaction was also evaluated.

Results

Forty-two students were included. The actions performed by the students were more reproducible between the SG and HFS modalities than between the MCQ and HFS modalities (P=.04). Students reported significantly higher satisfaction with the SG (P<.01) than with the MCQ modality.

Conclusions

The SG Effic'Asthme better reflected the actions performed by medical students during an HFS session than an MCQ on the same asthma exacerbation case. Because SGs allow the assessment of more dimensions of clinical competence than MCQs, they are particularly appropriate for the assessment of medical students on situations involving symptom recognition, prioritization of decisions, and technical skills.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03884114; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03884114.

SUBMITTER: Fonteneau T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7773513 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Simulation Game Versus Multiple Choice Questionnaire to Assess the Clinical Competence of Medical Students: Prospective Sequential Trial.

Fonteneau Tristan T Billion Elodie E Abdoul Cindy C Le Sebastien S Hadchouel Alice A Drummond David D

Journal of medical Internet research 20201216 12

<h4>Background</h4>The use of simulation games (SG) to assess the clinical competence of medical students has been poorly studied.<h4>Objective</h4>The objective of this study was to assess whether an SG better reflects the clinical competence of medical students than a multiple choice questionnaire (MCQ).<h4>Methods</h4>Fifth-year medical students in Paris (France) were included and individually evaluated on a case of pediatric asthma exacerbation using three successive modalities: high-fidelit ...[more]

PMID: 33325833

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Project description:BackgroundChoosing a medical specialty is an important, complex, and not fully understood process. The present study investigated the factors that are related to choosing and rejecting medical specialties in a group of students and recent medical doctors.Methodology and findingsA cross-sectional survey of 1,223 medical students and doctors was performed in Brazil in 2012. A standardized literature-based questionnaire was applied that gathered preferable or rejected specialties, and asked questions about extracurricular experiences and the influence of 14 factors on a Likert-type scale from 0 to 4. Specialties were grouped according to lifestyle categories: controllable and uncontrollable, which were subdivided into primary care, internal medicine, and surgical specialties. Notably, the time period of rejection was usually earlier than the time period of intended choice (p < 0.0001, χ(2) = 107.2). The choice mainly occurred during the internship period in medical school (n = 466; 38.7%). An overall large frequency of participation in extracurricular activities was observed (n = 1,184; 95.8%), which were highly associated with the respective medical area. Orthopedic surgery had the highest correlation with participation in specialty-specific organized groups (OR = 59.9, 95% CI = 21.6-166.3) and psychiatry was correlated with participation in research groups (OR = 18.0, 95% CI = 9.0-36.2). With regard to influential factors in controllable lifestyle specialties, "financial reason" (mean score ± standard deviation: 2.8 ± 1.0; median = 3) and "personal time" (3.1 ± 1.3; median = 4) were important factors. In primary care, these factors were less important (1.7 ± 1.3 and 1.7 ± 1.5, respectively; median = 2 for both), and higher scores were observed for "curricular internship" (3.2 ± 1.1, median = 4) and "social commitment" (2.6 ± 1.3, median = 3).ConclusionThe present findings provide important insights into developing strategies to stimulate interest in specialties based on the needs of the Brazilian healthcare system.

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Dataset Information

Simulation Game Versus Multiple Choice Questionnaire to Assess the Clinical Competence of Medical Students: Prospective Sequential Trial.

Background

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Trial registration

Publications

Simulation Game Versus Multiple Choice Questionnaire to Assess the Clinical Competence of Medical Students: Prospective Sequential Trial.

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