Mock Pages Are a Valid Construct for Assessment of Clinical Decision Making and Interprofessional Communication

Abstract

Importance: 

Answering pages from nurses about patients in need of immediate attention is one of the most difficult challenges a resident faces during their first days as a physician. A Mock Page program has been developed and adopted into a national surgical resident preparatory curriculum to prepare senior medical students for this important skill.

Objective: 

The purpose of this study is to assess standardized mock page cases as a valid construct to assess clinical decision making and interprofessional communication skills.

Design, Setting, Participants: 

Mock page cases (n = 16) were administered to 213 senior medical students from 12 medical schools participating in a national surgical resident preparatory curriculum in 2013 and 2014.

Main Outcome Measures: 

Clinical decision making and interprofessional communication were measured by case-specific assessments evaluating these skills which have undergone rigorous standard-setting to determine pass/fail cut points.

Results: 

Students’ performance improved in general for both communication and clinical decision making over the 4-week course. Cases have been identified that seem to be best suited for differentiating high- from low-performing students. Chest pain, pulmonary embolus, and mental status change cases posed the greatest difficulty for student learners.

Conclusions and Relevance: 

Simulated mock pages demonstrate an innovative technique for training students in both effective interprofessional communication and management of common postoperative conditions they will encounter as new surgical interns.