Yaqin Zeng, Ruidong Cheng, Zhouli Shao, L Zhang
BACKGROUND: The mini clinical evaluation exercise (Mini-CEX) is widely recognized as an effective measure for standardized training for resident physicians in European and American countries. However, in China, use of the Mini-CEX evaluation is limited to clinical patients. Previous studies have not assessed the combined efficacy of the Mini-CEX with student-standardized patients (SSPs) in rehabilitation medicine education. Therefore, this study explored whether combining Mini-CEX and SSP can improve resident physicians’ clinical and communication skills. METHODS: The sample comprised students who received standardized training for resident physicians from January 2022 to December 2023. Before the training began, the observation and control groups received Mini-CEX evaluation. During the training period, the observation group received Mini-CEX combined with SSP evaluation every 2 weeks, while the control group was not evaluated. Before leaving the department after the eighth week, the resident physicians’ learning outcomes were uniformly evaluated, including theoretical knowledge, Mini-CEX, clinical thinking, and specialized skills. A questionnaire was used to collect students’ evaluations of teaching. RESULTS: After 8 weeks, the Mini-CEX combined with SSP group was superior to the control group in terms of consultation skills, communication skills, clinical judgment, humanistic concern, and overall clinical competency (p < 0.05). Compared with traditional Mini-CEX, resident physicians made greater progress in their clinical comprehensive abilities, especially in clinical thinking, patient reception and case writing (p < 0.05). The survey results indicated that resident physicians were highly satisfied with the Mini-CEX combined with SSP. CONCLUSION: Mini-CEX combined with SSP is an effective and reliable evaluation method for rehabilitation resident physician training, with advantages for improving students’ clinical abilities.