gms | German Medical Science

Research in Medical Education – Chances and Challenges International Conference

20.05. - 22.05.2009, Heidelberg

Development and validation of a checklist for assessing medical communication skills: "Frankfurter Observer Checklist Communication" (FrOCK)

Meeting Abstract

  • corresponding author presenting/speaker Monika Sennekamp - JWG-Universität Frankfurt, Institut für Allgemeinmedizin, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
  • author Katja Gilbert - JWG-Universität Frankfurt, Institut für Allgemeinmedizin, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
  • author Corina Guethlin - JWG-Universität Frankfurt, Institut für Allgemeinmedizin, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
  • author Hans Michael Schaefer - JWG-Universität Frankfurt, Institut für Allgemeinmedizin, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
  • author Ferdinand M Gerlach - JWG-Universität Frankfurt, Institut für Allgemeinmedizin, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Research in Medical Education - Chances and Challenges 2009. Heidelberg, 20.-22.05.2009. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2009. Doc09rmeE5

doi: 10.3205/09rme25, urn:nbn:de:0183-09rme255

Veröffentlicht: 5. Mai 2009

© 2009 Sennekamp et al.
Dieser Artikel ist ein Open Access-Artikel und steht unter den Creative Commons Lizenzbedingungen (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.de). Er darf vervielfältigt, verbreitet und öffentlich zugänglich gemacht werden, vorausgesetzt dass Autor und Quelle genannt werden.


Gliederung

Poster

Introduction: Instruction in the art of communication was explicitly included in the most recent German Medical Licensure Act and is increasingly incorporated in medical curricula for university teaching. However, general competence in medical interviewing is rarely assessed and then only on the periphery of a specific assessment of medical history taking. On the one hand, this is due to the substantial organizational efforts involved in such appraisals, and on the other because the available evaluation instruments are often not practicable and have generally not been validated.

Question: To develop a practice-oriented checklist to assess medical communication skills which could be used in practical assessments and in university teaching and to test its validity and reliability.

Method: In several steps, a group of experts developed a new checklist that is distinguished by its clear structure and limitation to fundamental aspects. The checklist was used during a simulated oral examination involving 375 students and 13 examiners. Some of these examinations were recorded on video, and 44 were subsequently assessed by four examiners on the basis of the checklist. Using all available data, from live and from video assessment, FrOCK’s validity, as well as inter- and intrarater reliability, were tested.

Results: We have developed an assessment instrument which is sufficiently practicable and clear-cut to be used effectively for examination purposes. The face validity was judged as very good by the examiners. The correlation between the summary score over all items and the overall grade given by the examiners was r=-.627 with a significance of p<0.001. Detailed results will be provided at the congress.

Conclusion: The aim of developing a practice-oriented checklist for the assessment of medical interviews that can be used both for examination purposes and for teaching students, and which also fulfils the psychometric properties, was successful.