Abstract
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Hypothesis/Aim/Objectives
To compare a delirium group objective structured clinical examination (GOSCE) education intervention during clinical placement to traditional didactic education for medical students. It was hypothesised that participants who received the intervention would have higher delirium assessment practice OSCE exam score than those in the control group.
Setting/participants
Third year medical students at two clinical schools, within the one university, were recruited into the intervention group and two into the control group, based on their willingness to participate.
Methods
The intervention was an innovative delirium education programme of a face-to-face session and a GOSCE, that occurred during a four-week aged care clinical placement for third year medical students. A clustered cohort single blinded non-randomised controlled design was adopted. At the end year, all third medical students were invited to take part in a practice OSCE exam. A blinded examiner assessed students on three domains; (1) skill score (max 18), (2) knowledge score (max 18) and, combined knowledge skills score (max 9).
Results/findings
A total of 41 third year medical students completed the intervention and undertook a practice OSCE exam. The control group consisted of 29 participants. The intervention group obtained significantly higher scores across all domains compared to the control group; skill score (14.8 v. 13.9, p=0.009), knowledge score (14.4 v. 13.2, p=0.002) and combined knowledge skills score (7.3 v. 6.6, p=0.05).
Conclusions/Implications
The innovative delirium GOSCE education is an effective method to increase delirium knowledge and skill compared to traditional education for medical students.