Evaluation of system providing feedback to students on videotaped patient encounters

A technique in which feedback is provided on videotaped performances to teach interview and examination skills in a pediatric clerkship was evaluated with a single-blind, controlled study. At the beginning of the pediatric ambulatory rotation, each of 105 third-year medical students received verbal and written instruction in conducting pediatric patient interviews and examinations. Then an encounter between each student and a patient was videotaped using a stationary camera mounted in an examination room. The students were randomly assigned to one of three groups: to receive critiques of their performances on the videotaped encounters by their preceptors; to critique their own recorded performances themselves using a written checklist; and to have no critiques. At the end of the clerkship, a second patient encounter was videotaped and was rated and scored by three faculty pediatricians who were unaware of the students' group assignments. Students who received critiques from their preceptors performed significantly better on the second recorded interview and examination (p less than 0.001) than did those who had self-guided critiques or those in the control group that received no critiques.