title: Faculty and patient evaluations of radiology residents' communication and interpersonal skills.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess communication and interpersonal skills (CIS) of radiology residents through faculty and standardised patients (SP).
  
  
  METHODS
  In this day-long objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) in January 2009, 42 radiology residents took part at six stations in Karachi, each with a standardised patient and a faculty evaluator. Each encounter lasted 15 minutes followed by independent assessments of the residents by both the evaluators.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Based on rating-scale evaluations, all cases had satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.6 to 0.9). The alpha values were comparatively diminutive against the checklist scores. Correlation among faculty was 0.6 (p<0.001) with the use of both the checklist and the rating scale. Among standardised patient, intra-class correlation was 0.6 (p<0.001) for checklists and 0.7 (p=0.001) for rating scales. Moderate to strong correlations (r=0.6 to 0.9) existed between checklist and rating scores by the same type of evaluator. Correlations among the faculty and standardised patient using the same assessment tool were unimpressive.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both checklists and rating scales can serve as satisfactory assessment tools for communication and interpersonal skills using objective structured and clinical examination with the assistance of faculty and standardised patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. naila.nadeem@aku.edu
authors.forename: Naila
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nadeem
authors.forename: Abdul Mueed
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Zafar
authors.forename: Rukhsana Wamiq
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Zuberi
authors.forename: Muhammad Nadeem
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Ahmad
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods; D056348:Emotional Intelligence; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000592:standards*; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010154:Pakistan; D018579:Patient Selection; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D011871:Radiology / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*