Assessing medical students' competence in obtaining informed consent

BACKGROUND: Medical schools increasingly place emphasis on preparing studen ts to perform routine, ethically important clinical activities with sensiti vity and acumen. A method for evaluating students' skills in obtaining info rmed consent that was created at our institution is described. METHODS: Formal assessment of medical students' professional attitudes, val ues, and ethics skills occurs in the context of three required and developm entally attuned comprehensive examinations. A videotaped station tested sen ior medical students' ability to obtain informed consent from a standardize d patient who expresses concern about undergoing cardiac catheterization. T wo checklists were completed by the patient. Videotapes were reviewed by a faculty member, and students' reactions to the assessment experience were d ocumented. RESULTS: Seventy-one senior students participated, and all performed well. Mean scores of 6.3 out of 7 (range 5 to 7, SD = 0.5) on the informed consen t checklist and 8.7 out of 9 (range 6 to 9, SD = 0.5) on the communication skills checklist were obtained. Students endorsed the importance of the ski lls tested. CONCLUSIONS: This method of examining medical students' abilities to obtain informed consent has several positive features and holds promise as an eth ics competence assessment tool. (C) 1999 by Excerpta Medica, Inc.