What Drives Faculty Ratings of Residents' Clinical Skills? The Impact of Faculty's Own Clinical Skills

Background Factors explaining faculty variability in performance appraisals of trainees' clinical skills are poorly understood. This study sought to identify whether faculty characteristics and clinical skills performance impacted their ratings of residents' clinical skills. Method Forty-four internal medicine faculty completed a demographic questionnaire, eight standardized patient (SP) encounters, and rated four videotaped scenarios of standardized residents with SPs using the mini-CEX. Faculty characteristics, their SP exam content, and process performance scores were correlated with their mini-CEX ratings of residents. Results Faculty demographics, including experience, were not associated with mini-CEX ratings. Higher history-taking performance scores were associated with rater stringency in interviewing (r = -0.55, P < .01) and organization (r = -0.35, P < .05). Higher faculty process performance scores were associated with rater stringency in interviewing and physical exam (r = -0.41 and r = -0.42, P < .01, respectively) and organization (r = -0.36, P < .05). Conclusions Faculty's own clinical skills may be associated with their ratings of trainees.