Changes in Medical Students’ Self-Assessments of Clinical Communication Skills after Clinical Practice and Standardized Patient Feedback

Objective In this study, the authors aimed to analyze the effects of clinical practice and Standardized Patient (SP) feedback on medical students’ self-assessments of their clinical communication skills (CCS). Methods The authors analyzed questionnaire responses from 43 fifth-year medical students enrolled in the Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea, in 2019, and used the Communication Assessment Tool (CAT) scale to measure the study’s variables. A descriptive statistical analysis and paired t test focused on the distribution of and changes in CCS before and after clinical practice and after receiving SP feedback. Results After clinical practice, the students’ perceptions of their own CCS were positively increased, but after the receipt of SP feedback, they significantly decreased. Scores for the item on interpersonal relationships with the patient from the perspective of the patient were significantly lower after the SP feedback was obtained. Conclusions SP feedback emerged as an important educational method, allowing students to assess their CCS more objectively and view their CCS as physicians from the patient’s perspective. SP feedback is necessary, as is providing students with the experience of receiving direct SP feedback, on clinical performance to increase patient-centered care competencies.