Comparison of self and simulated patient assessments of first-year medical students’ Interpersonal and Communication Skills (ICS) during Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE)

BACKGROUND: Interpersonal and communication skills (ICS) are important core competencies in medical education and certification. In this study, we identified self- and simulated patient (SP)-reported ratings of US first-year medical students’ ICS and the influence of age and gender on performance appraisal during the Objective-Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). METHODS: OSCE participants, including 172 first-year medical students and 15 SPs were asked to evaluate the students’ ICS using the American Board of Internal Medicine–Patient-Satisfaction Questionnaire (ABIM–PSQ), electronically and via paper, respectively. Self- and SP-reported ratings of students’ ICS were presented as the median on a 5-point Likert-scale and as three categories defined as “good,” “very good,” and “inadequate.” RESULTS: SPs assessed all 172 students in the OSCE, while 43.6% of students assessed their own performance. The majority of students and SPs evaluated the students’ ICS as very good. 23.3% of SPs and 5.3% of students rated the medical students’ ability to encourage patient question-asking and answer questions as inadequate (P < 0.002). Neither age nor gender influenced the medical students’ self-assessment of ICS. Female SPs assigned lower scores to students in regard to respecting patients and encouraging patient question-asking and answering. Older SPs was more likely to assign lower scores on all survey questions. CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, self- and SP-reported ratings of first-year medical students’ ICS were mainly “very good” with no influence of students’ age or gender. Older age and female gender among the SPs were associated with a reduction in SP-reported ratings of students’ ICS. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-021-02540-y.