EDUCATION RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in
Salons 10-12.
FRIDAY, 10:15-11:00 AM
Silverman H, Koithan M, Maizes V.
Evaluating integrative medicine competencies in mid-career
providers: the usefulness of the OSCE.
University of Arizona, Program in Integrative
Medicine mkoithan@nursing.arizona.edu
Competency evaluation of healthcare trainees and practitioners
has gained increasing attention in recent years. As a developing discipline,
Integrative Medicine needs to create credible standards and adapt /adopt
competency-based measurement techniques. One technique that has gained
acceptance in medical student and resident evaluation is the Objective
Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). This format utilizes standardized
patients who rate the learner's actual performance on a defined list
of competencies. The Program in Integrative Medicine at the University
of Arizona has developed core terminal competencies for all of its educational
programs and utilizes single station OSCE examinations as one method
to evaluate learners' competence relative to terminal competencies.
As faculty discussed this evaluation strategy, we noted that there is
essentially no literature describing the use of the OSCE to evaluate
skill/knowledge acquisition in mid-career healthcare providers. Therefore,
we have examined whether (a) the OSCE is a meaningful and useful evaluation
strategy for mid-career healthcare providers and (2) the OSCE can provide
individual and aggregate competency data in an integrative medicine
educational program in a small pilot study. To address these research
questions, evaluation data collected from two one-station OSCEs, used
as evaluation strategies in the Integrative Medicine Associate Fellowship,
were analyzed. OSCE I measured competence in patient-provider relationship
formation, patient-centered care techniques and the performance of a
comprehensive integrative medicine assessment and health history; OSCE
II measured the ability to use knowledge and skills in five key content
areas to create and communicate a patient treatment plan. Evaluation
data from 44 participants indicated that the OSCE was relevant to their
practice (94.3%); helped them assess personal strengths and weaknesses
in identified skill areas (91.2%); and would be useful in their professional
lives with patients and colleagues (93.7%). Content analysis of the
qualitative responses indicated that the opportunity for guided feedback,
patient interaction in a safe environment and the challenge of "real"
situations contributed to the usefulness of this OSCE experience. However,
participants also noted that the experience was "stressful" and reminiscent
of medical evaluation and 17 (38.6%) participants felt ill-prepared.
Results also indicated initial support for the validity of the OSCE.
In addition to participant ratings that the OSCE content was comprehensive
(97.1%), accurate (96.9%), and indicative of skill ability (89.2%),
individual (range 72-100%) and aggregate/group item scores (range 68-98%)
indicated that the OSCE was able to differentiate individual fellows
on the identified competencies as well as program competencies that
require additional instruction and attention. Therefore there is support
that OSCEs are meaningful and useful evaluation and teaching-learning
techniques for mid-career providers.
Back