title: The Women's Health Objective Structured Clinical Exam: a multidisciplinary collaboration.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the preliminary benefits of a Women's Health Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) which integrates psychiatry and obstetrics and gynecology principles into communication-focused doctor-patient paradigms.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors extracted medical student survey data from pre- and post-OSCE program evaluations (n = 193). Using McNemar's tests, the authors compared pre- and post-OSCE proportions of students reporting comfort levels with interactions involving terminally diagnosed patients, domestic violence, breast feeding, and other areas relevant to women's health.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The proportion of students reporting comfort with each communication domain increased between pre- and post-OSCE assessments. The greatest improvements were observed for discussions related to domestic violence (41% gain), terminal illness (37% gain) and postpartum depression/psychosis (23% gain). Ninety-four percent felt that this Women's Health OSCE was a valuable learning experience.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The authors conclude that this Women's Health OSCE was a successful addition to the medical student clinical curriculum as measured by student satisfaction and self-reported improved comfort levels with challenging communication paradigms. Future studies will investigate the effect that this learning activity has on competency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio , San Antonio, TX , USA and.
authors.forename: Jason E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Schillerstrom
authors.forename: Mary L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Lutz
authors.forename: Diane M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.forename: Erin L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: Jason A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Parker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D017579:Domestic Violence; D005260:Female; D006176:Gynecology / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D009774:Obstetrics / Q000193:education*; D010808:Physical Examination; D011247:Pregnancy; D013337:Students, Medical; D016387:Women's Health