Teaching Effective Informed Consent Communication Skills in the Virtual Surgical Clerkship - 23/06/21

Doi : 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2021.04.026

Joyce H. Pang, MD ^a,^⁎ , Esme Finlay, MD ^b, Sally Fortner, MD ^c, Bradley Pickett, MD ^d, Ming-Li Wang, MD ^a
^a Department of Surgery, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM
^b Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Palliative Care, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM
^c Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM
^d Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM

^∗Correspondence address: Joyce H Pang, MD, Department of Surgery, UNM School of Medicine, MSC10 5610, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001.Department of SurgeryUNM School of MedicineMSC10 5610, 1 University of New MexicoAlbuquerqueNM87131-0001

Abstract

Background

The disruption by the COVID-19 pandemic on undergraduate medical education allowed for assessment of virtual curricular innovations. One of the difficulties encountered in the virtual curriculum is the teaching of clinical competencies that would traditionally require students to undergo in-person simulations and patient encounters. We implemented a novel informed consent activity module, with standardized patients, to improve self-efficacy in communication within our core surgery clerkship.

Study Design

All medical students who participated in the virtual surgery clerkship were recruited to participate in a retrospective survey study regarding the novel informed consent module. These questions evaluated their perceived competence in 4 domains relating to informed consent: identifying the key elements, describing common challenges, applying the New Mexico Clinical Communication Scale (NMCCS), and documenting.

Results

Thirty-four of 90 students participated in the study (38% of the cohort). Respondents to the survey reported that their self-efficacy in communication skills related to informed consent improved as a result of their participation in the activity in each of the 4 domains surveyed (p < 0.01), with the majority of students identifying as satisfactory or above in each domain post-module. Students generally viewed the virtual informed consent activity positively, but noted that it was not the same as an in-person clinical experience.

Conclusions

A virtual module of communication skills training, using standardized patients and faculty, improved students’ belief in their self-efficacy in obtaining informed consent. This communication module can be useful in a virtual or mixed curricular structure for both current and future medical students.

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Visual Abstract

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Abbreviations and Acronyms : AAMC, COVID-19, NM-CCS, REDCap

Plan

Methods

Virtual informed consent activity

Retrospective self-assessment survey

Data analysis

Results

A helpful activity

Inability of the virtual curriculum to replace real patients

Discussion

Utility of a virtual informed consent curriculum

The irreplaceable clinical environment

	Disclosure Information: Nothing to disclose.
	Disclaimer: Each author certifies that this research was given exempt status by the University of New Mexico Institutional Review Board (IRB #20-356) and that all investigations were conducted in accordance with ethical principles of research.