Measuring students’ ability to identify core elements in a patient-centered consultation with a new tool comprising a questionnaire and a video consultation from general practice. Guidance for the learning process.

Introduction: Diverse ways to measure course effectiveness in medical education exist, but it takes time to have the results. The authors have developed a tool consisting of a questionnaire (DanOBS) combined with a test video consultation. The students watched a consultation video and completed a questionnaire about patient-centered elements before and after the course. This study aimed to evaluate the learning process for teachers and students with the DanOBS and a consultation video. Method: Altogether 201 students from autumn 2019 were included in this study, assigned by the university to three general practice courses and six small study groups. After introducing the patient-centered consultation model on the first day of the course, the students watched a video consultation and completed the DanOBS online on their Mobile Phones. They watched the video and completed the questionnaire again on one of the last days of the course. The number of correct answers in each item was compared before and after the course. Furthermore, effect sizes for each item were calculated. Results: The number of students completing the questionnaire before and after the course was 161. The number of correct answers increased after the course. Items where the teaching was a success, as well as items where it needs intensifying, were identified. The DanOBS instrument reflected the effect of strengthening the learning in some elements of the patient-centered mode. Conclusion: A tool for measuring efficacy in teaching patient-centered consultation has been implemented and has given valuable information to teachers about where the students need intensified teaching. The tool can measure the effectiveness of various educational interventions.