TO EVALUATE THE INTERPERSONAL SKILLS OF INTERNS IN ORTHOPEDICS USING MINI-CLINICAL EVALUATION EXERCISE - AN INTERVENTIONAL STUDY FROM NORTH INDIA.

Background: Medical undergraduates having lack of interpersonal skills may lead to severe deficiencies in health services. Currently these were not being trained or assessed at workplace for their behavior and communication skills during their medical curriculum. During this study, mini-CEX (mini clinical evaluation exercise) was used as a work place based assessment (WPBA) tool to assess the interpersonal skills of interns and providing them concurrent feedback. The aim of this study was to evaluate and improving the interpersonal skills of interns posted in orthopedic department during their rotatory internship while assessing the acceptability, feasibility and effectiveness of mini-CEX assessment as a tool. Materials and Methods: This prospective and interventional study was conducted in department of orthopedics of our hospital settings between July to November of 2022. The forty interns who participated in this study were on rotatory internship in our department and 06 volunteered faculty members were also included. The mini-CEX form as assessment tool structured by American Board of Internal Medicine was used in this study. Each intern undergone six rotatory assessment sessions, on mini-CEX forms with each of the faculty comprising a total of 240 sessions. Participants at the end of their internship submitted their perceptions on an anonymous validated questionnaire which contains both open ended and closed ended questions (Likert 5-point scale). Statistical Analysis: The descriptive data having frequencies were analyzed using Microsoft Excel software. Thematic analysis was used for qualitative data of open ended questions. Results: Most of interns (36/90%) and all included faculty members had shown that mini-CEX assessment tool has encouraged them and helpful in improving their communication skills. On comparison of their first through 6th encounters, interns had shown improvement in their mean min-CEX score for skill development and competencies with improvement in communication skills. This improvement was statistically significant. (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our study had shown that mini-CEX as WBPA too is an acceptable, effective as well as feasible method for assessing the interpersonal skills of interns in clinical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]