Measuring the ability of residents to manage oncologic problems

✍ Scribed by Sloan, David A.; Donnelly, Michael B.; Schwartz, Richard W.; McGrath, Patrick C.; Kenady, Daniel E.; Wood, David P.; Strodel, William E.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 208 KB
• Volume: 64
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-4790
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-9098(199702)64:2<135::aid-jso9>3.0.co;2-c

✦ Synopsis

Background:

An osce was used to measure the ability of a cohort of residents to manage oncologic problems.

Methods:

Nine oncologic clinical problems were presented to 56 surgical residents. each problem contained a 5-minute data-gathering period (dgp) and a 5-minute data-interpretation period (dip). a performance score was determined for each resident for each problem. reliability was estimated by coefficient alpha; validity, by the construct of experience. wilks's lambda criterion was used to determine whether training level could be identified by osce performance.

Results:

The dgp reliability was 0.80; the dip, 0.49. senior residents performed significantly better than junior residents (p = 0.0001), who performed significantly better than interns (p = 0.0009). of the residents, 62% were competent on the dgp, but only 21% on the dip. important deficits in knowledge and clinical skills were apparent at all levels of training.

Conclusion:

The education and evaluation of residents in oncology need improvement.