Assessment of Clinical Examination Skills in Surgical Postgraduate Residents in Surgical O.P.D. in Rural Medical College

Abstract

Introduction- Surgical postgraduate residents face to examine lot of patients in the surgical OPD in a limited time. So they depend on investigations to arrive at provisional diagnosis. The common methods of assessing the students are written examination and faculty and resident summation rating. In the summative rating, the students do not receive feedback as regards their clinical skills and so their validity is doubtful. OSCES are reliable and valid clinical assessment but are expensive and time consuming. Ideal approach- Surgical postgraduate residents should take the history in detail and do the clinical examination properly. They should develop a thought process to utilize these findings to come to the provisional diagnosis and use limited investigations to reinforce their diagnosis. The feasible tool which promotes observation of residents clinical skill is essential. This is achieved by Mini-CEX. American Board of Internal medicine (ABIM) developed Mini-CEX for the assessment of clinical skills of residents. Aim- Use of Mini-CEX is one good way to achieve this goal. Objectives- To improve the clinical examination skill in postgraduate surgical residents. They should utilize the investigative tools to reinforce their diagnosis by examination of the patient as a whole. Innovation- To achieve this goal, the use of Mini-CEX was implemented. Material and Methods 1. Preproject questionnaire. 2. Implementation. 3. Interval feedback.4.Assessment. Method - Mini-CEX Results- The use of Mini-CEX in surgical post graduate residents in Surgery OPD has positively contributed in achieving objectives of developing thought process to reach provisional diagnosis by utilizing history and clinical examination.