title: Assessment of communication, professionalism, and surgical skills in an objective structured performance-related examination (OSPRE): a psychometric study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of a performance assessment of communication, professionalism, and surgical skills competencies for surgery residents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fourteen residents from the general surgery program of the University of Calgary were assessed in 7 surgical simulation stations that included communication and professionalism skills.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The internal consistency reliability of the checklists and global rating scales combined was adequate for communication (α = .75-.92) and surgical skills (α = .86-.96), but not for professionalism (α = 0). There was evidence of validity as surgical skills performance improved as a function of postgraduate year level but not for the professionalism checklist. Surgical skills and communication correlated in the 2 stations assessed (r = .55 and .57; P < .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is evidence for both reliability and validity for simultaneously assessing surgical skills and communication skills. Further instrument development is required to assess professionalism in a structured examination context.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. acponton@ucalgary.ca
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ponton-Carss
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hutchison
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Violato
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003142:Communication; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011361:Professional Competence; D011594:Psychometrics; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D015203:Reproducibility of Results