Fei Yao,1,2,* Jian-Song Chen,1,2,* Li-Hong Chen,1,2 Bi-Yu Ye,1,2 Chan-Juan Yang,1,2 Xuan-Zi Li1,2 

1Department of Education, The Affiliated Brain Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510370, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Mental Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510370, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Xuan-Zi Li; Chan-Juan Yang, Department of Education, The Affiliated Brain Hospital, School of Mental Health, Guangzhou Medical University, No. 36 mingxin Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510370, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 20 81268042, Email lixuanzi@gzhmu.edu.cn; yangw2020@gzhmu.edu.cn

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the application of standardized patient (SP) in the certification assessment of clinical practice ability standardized training for psychiatric resident physicians.
Methods: Candidates and examiners who participated in the graduation examination of clinical practice ability standardized training for psychiatric resident physicians in Guangdong Province from 2020 to 2023 were selected as the research participants. The assessment scores of candidates were collected. Questionnaires about satisfaction degree and SP application evaluation were designed and filled out by the examiners and candidates to evaluate their satisfaction with the clinical practice ability certification assessment.
Results: The average annual score of the practical skills certification assessment is 83.88 ± 5.78 (P< 0.001). There is no evident change in the second station (81.50 ± 6.81, P=0.0825), while the scores of the other stations fluctuate significantly (83.77 ± 6.80, 84.46 ± 6.70, and 88.31 ± 7.82; P< 0.05). A total of 185 valid questionnaires were collected, of which 97.87% of the examiners and 92.03% of the candidates are satisfied with SP, respectively, both higher than their overall satisfaction levels (97.87% vs 89.36%; 92.03% vs 85.51). Examiners are highly consistent with their evaluation of SP satisfaction (Kendall=0.829, P< 0.001), while candidates have low consistency in their evaluation of SP (Kendall=0.012, P=0.04). The differences in SP evaluation between different identities mainly include appearance, intonation, physical movements, language accuracy, and use of medical terminologies (P< 0.05).
Conclusion: The satisfaction with the application of SP in the certification assessment of clinical practice ability standardized training for psychiatric resident physicians is high. However, it has inconsistent evaluations from examiners and candidates in terms of appearance, pronunciation and intonation, physical movements, language accuracy, and use of medical terminologies. Enhancing the SP level can promote the stability of the assessment.

Keywords: standardized patient, psychiatry, standardized training for resident physicians, assessment