Ratings of videotaped simulated patient interviews and four other methods of evaluating a psychiatry clerkship

Ratings of videotaped interviews with simulated patients were compared with four other measures commonly used to evaluate medical students during their psychiatry clerkship. Intercorrelations among self-reported attitude change, written examination grade, and student rating of satisfaction with the clerkship suggest that each measures different processes. Low but significant correlations between preceptor ratings of interaction skills and data-gathering skills and process and content scores based on an end-of-course videotaped interview suggest that preceptor ratings and the videotaped interview method evaluated the same skills. The authors conclude that preceptor evaluations supplemented by objective ratings of videotaped interviews show promise for evaluating the development of interviewing skills.