A Collaborative: The Stanford Medical Education Research Group

Welcome to the School of Medicine's Medical Education Research & Evaluation Group Blog. Meetings are Thursdays from 10:15 to 11:45 a.m. This blog is used to announce agenda items, document research discussions, and share ideas and information about publications, presentations and conferences. This site is maintained by the Division of Evaluation. Questions? Contact Dr. Fetterman (davidf@stanford.edu). Assistance with postings? Contact Ms. Jennifer Berry (jenberry@stanford.edu)

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Dr. Heather Davidson. Heather's focus is on Graduate Medical Education. She is from Stanford University Hospital. She provided a thought provoking presentation, based on a survey of house staff.

The group provided rich feedback on her presentation, ranging from substantive sample issues to format and presentation.

One of the novel ideas that emerged toward the end of the presentation was to present the data in reverse like a photographic negative. Instead of focusing on the negative - the exact opposite or mirror image could be highlighted. It caught everyone's attention and embodied the empowerment evaluation principles of participation, improvement, and democratic participation.

The discussion was so engaging it spilled over into lunch time as refinements and additional ideas emerged. Please contact Heather for additional details about the study.

(See clock 12:12.)

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Training for Standardized Patient-Interpreter Cases: A How-To Guide for Consistent and Reliable Results. Sylvia Bereknyei presented her preliminary findings concerning four checklists used in training standardized patients (Standardized Interpreter, Standardized Patient, Observer, and the validation checklist). They showed high internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha, scales ranging from 0.77 to 0.94. The checklists have good scale and item consistency. Additional analysis will include normal distribution of scores per item as well as by rater for each checklist. The findings suggest that the Standardized Patient Program for POM Q3 2007 LEP case used an effective training program to evaluate MS1 student performance on communication skills and effective interpreter used during a standardized encounter.



Contact Sylvia for additional details.