title: Evaluating medical students' skills in obtaining informed consent for HIV testing.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate fourth-year medical students' abilities to obtain informed consent or refusal for HIV testing through a performance-based evaluation method.
  
  
  METHODS
  Student competence was assessed in a standardized patient interaction in which the student obtained informed consent or refusal for HIV testing. A previously validated 16-item checklist was completed by the standardized patient. A subset was independently reviewed and scored by a faculty member to calculate interrater reliability for this report. Student feedback on the assessment was elicited.
  
  
  METHODS
  School of Medicine at the University of New Mexico.
  
  
  METHODS
  All senior medical students in the class of 2000 were included.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 10-minute standardized patient interaction was administered within the context of a formal comprehensive performance assessment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-nine students participated, and most (96%) demonstrated competence on the station. For the 15 specific items, the mean score was 25.5 out of 30 possible points (range, 13 to 30; SD, 3.5) on the checklist. A strong positive correlation (rs =.79) was found between the total score on the 15 Likert-scaled items and the score in response to the global item, "I would return to this clinician" (mean, 3.5; SD, 1.0). Scores given by the standardized patients and the faculty rater were well correlated. The station was generally well received by students, many of whom were stimulated to pursue further learning.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This method of assessing medical students' abilities to obtain informed consent or refusal for HIV testing can be translated to a variety of clinical settings. Such efforts may help in demonstrating competence in performing key ethics skills and may help ensure ethically sound clinical care for people at risk for HIV infection.
authors.affiliation: Empirical Ethics Group, Department of Psychiatry, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM 87131-5326, USA. lroberts@salud.unm.edu
authors.forename: Laura Weiss
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Geppert
authors.forename: Teresita
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: McCarty
authors.forename: S Scott
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Obenshain
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D011594:Psychometrics; D013337:Students, Medical