Impact of a standardized patient intervention to teach breast and abdominal examination skills to third-year medical students at two institutions

Background This study examined whether a single intervention with standardized patients (SPs) as a supplement to traditional teaching during the surgery clerkship would enhance the breast and abdominal examination skills of third-year medical students. Methods During the academic year 1994–1995, 153 students from two institutions were assigned to control or experimental groups. At institution A, all students underwent pretests and posttests with SPs; at institution B, no pretest was conducted. All experimental students received group and one-to-one instruction with SPs during the intervention session. Results At posttest, the experimental group performed better than the control group on breast examination (P = 0.002), professionalism during this examination (P<0.001), abdominal examination (P<0.001), and professionalism during the latter examination (P = 0.050). The improvement from pretest to posttest at institution A was significantly greater in the experimental group than the control group for the breast examination (P = 0.036) and the abdominal examination (P<0.001). Analyses on a variety of specific tasks within each examination were also performed. Conclusion A single intervention with SPs teaching breast and abdominal examinations resulted in significant enhancement of these clinical skills.