title: Teaching foundational physical examination skills: study results comparing lay teaching associates and physician instructors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this pilot study was to determine differences in the physical exam skills of first-year medical students learning physical exam exclusively from standardized physical examination teaching associates (SPETAs) or physician faculty.
  
  
  METHODS
  In all, 144 first-year medical students were randomized to receive SPETA or physician-led physical examination instruction. Students participated in an OSCE assessment immediately following the end of the curriculum block.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SPETA-trained students performed equivalently to physician faculty trained students across all stations with a mean of 82.9% versus 81.2% (p = .226). Students taught by SPETAs performed significantly better on the abdominal OSCE with a mean score of 88.8%, while physician faculty taught students had a mean score of 85.4% (p = .03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings from this study suggest that SPETAs can effectively teach foundational physical examination skills to medical students at a similar and sometimes better performance level as physician faculty.
authors.affiliation: Center for Advancing Professional Excellence, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, School of Medicine, P.O. Box 6508, Mail Stop F495, Aurora, CO 80045, USA. gwyn.barley@uchsc.edu
authors.forename: Gwyn E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Barley
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dwinnell
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000379:methods*; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*