A collaborative effort to study methods of teaching physical examination skills.

A collaborative study was conducted between two medical schools to evaluate critically the teaching of physical examination skills to first-year medical students, assess the effect of different instructional methods on student performance, and improve teaching programs at both schools. Students at the two schools were videotaped performing a physical examination on a paid model at the completion of their physical diagnosis courses. The videotapes were sent to a third school for independent evaluation based on criteria agreed upon by all three schools. Students participating in a highly structured course and utilizing a very specific behavioral checklist as both a teaching and evaluating instrument tended to perform more complete physical examinations than students from a less structured course and employing a more generalized checklist. Both medical schools benefited from participation in the study.