The positive effect of student-oriented clinical clerkship rounds employing role-play and peer review on the clinical performance and professionalism of clerkship students

Background: Role-play (RP) and peer review (PR) are occasionally used in training and evaluating communication skills in clinical clerkship (CC). Thus, we evaluated the effect of combining RP and PR during student-oriented CC rounds. Methods: Clerkship students conducted medical interviews with and performed physical examinations on their patients, which were reviewed by five peer students who observed their performance while role-playing as senior physicians or patients' families. The peer reviewers then provided feedback to the students. The performance of the students was evaluated based on a mini-clinical evaluation exercise (Mini-CEX) and a professionalism mini-evaluation exercise (P-MEX) before and after the rounds by two attending physicians. After the CC, the students responded to questionnaires about the rounds. Results: Seventy-five students completed the rounds, and the duration of each round was 41.7 +/- 7.1 min. Their communication skills and professionalism abilities on Mini-CEX and P-MEX showed significant improvement after the rounds. Improvements in medical interviewing and physical examinations were also noted. Additionally, the students recognized the importance of multiple viewpoints in patient care through experiences of the rounds. Conclusions: Combining RP and PR with CC rounds improves the students' clinical performance and professionalism and promotes their awareness of the importance of multiple viewpoints in patient care.