Brief write-up
Project objectives
(1) to develop a program to train professional actors to play the role of simulated psychiatric patients and to give feedback on the interview performance of students; and
(2) to test run and evaluate a novel method that uses one-on-one online training session with these trained actors to enhance students’ clinical soft skills.
Activities, process and outcomes
We have created training materials and conducted training for a group of professional drama actor to simulate real-life clinical encounters in psychiatric settings. 85 Year 5 medical students enrolled in this pilot program, and 65 hours of online small group intensive clinical skill training was provided. We have collected pre- and post-session feedback via survey, and conducted two focus group evaluation sessions.
Deliverables and evaluation
The program has been executed according to original plan, except that the training was changed from one-to-one format to an intensive small group format after considering the suggestions from the actors. The enrollment rate was lower than expected, but the feedback from the participants were overwhelmingly positive. Majority of them had increased in self-perceived competence and confidence in their clinical interview skill.
Dissemination, diffusion, impact and sharing of good practices
The result of the program will be disseminated by sharing session and submission to peer-reviewed journal.
Impact on teaching and learning
Students had very positive experience in the session. The program proved that clinical skill teaching can be done by non-medical theatrical professionals.
