Effects of student gender and standardized-patient gender in a single case using a male and a female standardized patient.

Background: In previous studies assessing the effects of student gender, standardized-patient (SP) gender, and their interaction on multiple-station examinations of clinical competence, SP gender was confounded with cases, that is, male SPs were used for some cases and female SPs for others. The authors conducted two studies to investigate the effects of gender on a single case by using a male SP and a female SP for the same case.

Method: Both studies involved one SP case in a comprehensive clinical evaluation used to assess fourth-year students at the end of a required ambulatory care clerkship at Saint Louis University School of Medicine in 1990-91 and 1991-92. In Study 1, 45 students in four rotations saw the same male SP; 42 students in three other rotations saw the same female SP. In Study 2, 69 students in six rotations were randomly assigned either the male SP (28) or the female SP (41) within the same rotation. For each study, to determine the interaction of student gender and SP gender as well as their main effects, analyses of variance were performed on the students' history-taking and physical examination scores and communication skills ratings.

Results: Neither study showed a significant interaction of student gender and SP gender on history taking, physical examinations, or communication skills.

Conclusion: The findings of both studies suggest that the interaction between student gender and SP gender, unconfounded by case content, had no effect on the students' scores and ratings.