USE OF MEDICAL STUDENTS AS SIMULATED PATIENTS (SP) IN THE FORMATIVE OBJECTIVE STRUCTURED CLINICAL EXAMINATION (OSCE) IN A MALAYSIAN SETTING

Medical students have been used as simulated patients(SPs) in routine clinical skills sessions and Formative OSCEs. At the Monash University Sunway Campus Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, medical students were used as SPs for the first time during the Year 1 and 2 Formative OSCE in June 2010. Participants:There were a total of 133 and 113 student-examinees in Year 1 and 2 respectively. In the year 2 OSCE, the year 1 students were the SPs and vice versa for the year 1 OSCE. Eighteen and nineteen students from year 1 and 2 respectively volunteered to be SPs. Method: A questionnaire was designed to obtain feedback from all the students. The questionnaire was distributed to the students by the administrative staff. Conduc was conducted anonymously. Simultaneous feedback survey was obtained from both student-examinees and student-SPs for each year. Results: There was a response rate of more than 80% to this feedback: Only 69% of year 1 students had role played during routine clinical skills sessions compared to 94% of year 2 students. This was reflected in the feedback where 84% of year 2 student-examinees stated that the year 1 student-SPs were adequately trained in contrast with 91% of year 1 students. 62% of student-SPs in the year 1 OSCE stated that they received feedback on their role play during the exams compared on 38% in the year 2 OSCE. There were more student-SPs presenting with anxiety symptoms amongst the Year 1 student-SPs (13-31%) compared to their Year 2 (0-13%) peers. All students-SPs stated that they were fatigue (31% moderately severe in Year 1 student-SPs and 63% in the Year 2 student-SPs). Despite this, 94-100% of the student-SPs would volunteer again in future Formative OSCEs. All of them stated that they had a better understanding of the assessment process and will be able to apply what they learnt as a SP in the Formative OSCE when they practiced with their peers. Conclusion: Overall, using medical students as SPs for the Year 1 and 2 Formative OSCE has been a positive and constructive experience for the students. There were some minor issues that can be addressed later.