Impact of student ethnicity and primary childhood language on communication skill assessment in a clinical performance examination

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Clinical performance examinations (CPX) with standardized patients (SPs) have become a preferred method to assess communication skills in US medical schools. Little is known about how trainees' backgrounds impact CPX performance. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of student ethnicity, primary childhood language, and experience of diversity on the communication scores of a high-stakes CPX using SPs. DESIGN: This research was designed as an observational study. PARTICIPANTS: The participants of this study were third-year medical students at one US medical school. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The measurements used in this study were CPX scores from mandatory exam, student demographics and experience with diversity measured by self-report on a survey, and Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) scores. A total of 135 students participated. Asian and black students scored lower than white students on the communication portion of the CPX by approximately half a standard deviation (Asian, 67.4%; black, 64.4%; white, 69.4%, p