Research Article: Training and Validation of Standardized Patients for Assessing Communication and Counseling Skills of Pharmacy Students - A Pilot Study
Lead author: Mahboobeh Khabaz Mafinejad
Submitted by: Todd Lash, Publications Committee Chair

Investigators at the Tehran University of Medical Sciences and the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm described a cross sectional and correlation study to determine the process of training valid simulated patients (SPs) for assessing communication and counseling skills of pharmacy students' performance. Three scenarios, along with corresponding checklists, were developed based on the usual medications of different diseases consisting of asthma, respiratory infections, and osteoporosis. The SPs' role-play performance was video-recorded and rated independently by two experts according to an observational rating scale to assess validity. Study validity was evaluated by statistical analysis. The role-play was repeated after 1 week with the same scenario and the same doctor, to assess test-retest reliability. The investigators concluded that trained SPs can be used as an effective tool to assess pharmacy students' communication and counseling skills. Read the full article in the Journal Research in Pharmacy Practicehere.

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