Presentation Description
Anzhelika Ivasenko1
1 UPIKE
1 UPIKE
Active introduction of artificial intelligence changes not only the way medicine is practiced but also the ways it is taught. The era of AI changes the quality of skills needed by physicians to effectively and safely practice medicine and puts more emphasis on communication with patients and cultural competency. To evaluate the knowledge and skills of physicians in training, AAMC (2013) developed the concept of entrustable professional activities (EPAs) which is used by many medical schools in the US, Europe, and throughout the world. Out of eight domains of competencies for physicians assessed by AAMC, four are dealing with so- called soft skills, such as interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, self- appraisal, and inter-professional collaboration. These skills are evaluated by preceptors and serve as prerequisites for residency training.
A systematic review of 1092 studies published between 2018 and 2022 was conducted, and 88 studies on teaching and assessing empathy, communication, cultural competency, leadership, and professionalism were selected.
The reported difficulties in evaluation are attributed to large cohorts of students, lack of time, vague criteria, no standardized assessment methods, cognitive biases and selective attention in case of self-evaluation, negative role-modeling, lack of realism in simulated patient encounters, and lack of administrative support for student-led initiatives.
Conclusions:
- Multiple test methods should be used to mitigate biases in assessment and increase validity. Portfolios use can be very helpful in implementing this and should be recommended.
- There is a need for definite criteria and standardized assessment methods in soft skills evaluation.
- Systemic changes should be made in health care and health education to increase institutional and individual access to leadership opportunities and overcome barriers to medical students' leadership created by the hierarchical nature of medicine.
- Professional, inter-professional, patient, and student-led organizations should be more actively involved in medical education, including curriculum evaluation and assessment.
References (maximum three)
- Tan, X.H., Foo, M.A., Lim, S.L.H. et al. (2021)‘Teaching and Assessing Communication Skills in the Postgraduate Medical Setting: A Systematic Scoping Review’, BMC Med Educ 21(483) Available at: https://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12909-021-02892-5#citeas (Accessed: 28 July 2022)
- Zhou, Y.C., Tan, S.R., Tan, C.G.H. et al (2021)’A systematic scoping review of approaches to teaching and assessing empathy in medicine’, BMC Medical Education, 21(1), pp. 292-307, Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34020647/ (Accessed: 6 January 2023)