Perceived Anxiety is Negligible in Medical Students Receiving Video Feedback During Simulated Core Practical Skills Teaching: A Randomised Trial Comparing Two Feedback Modalities

Joanna Matthan; Matthew Gray; Craig I Nesbitt; Lucy Bookless; Gerard Stansby; Alexander Phillips

doi:10.7759/cureus.7486

Perceived Anxiety is Negligible in Medical Students Receiving Video Feedback During Simulated Core Practical Skills Teaching: A Randomised Trial Comparing Two Feedback Modalities

Cureus. 2020 Mar 31;12(3):e7486. doi: 10.7759/cureus.7486.

Authors

Joanna Matthan¹, Matthew Gray², Craig I Nesbitt³, Lucy Bookless⁴, Gerard Stansby³, Alexander Phillips⁵

Affiliations

¹ Dental Sciences, Newcastle University, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle upon Tyne, GBR.
² Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, GBR.
³ Vascular Surgery, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, GBR.
⁴ Surgery, Northumbria Healthcare Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, GBR.
⁵ Northern Oesophagogastric Unit, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, GBR.

Abstract

Introduction The ability to undertake simple practical procedures is essential for graduating medical students and is typically assessed using simulated models. Feedback is a key component of the learning process in developing proficiency in these key skills. Video feedback (VF) has previously shown promise, however, negative effects of VF-related anxiety on performance have been previously reported. Our aim was to investigate for a difference in participant anxiety between supervised individualised video feedback (SIVF) and unsupervised generic video feedback (UGVF) when undertaking simulated basic practical procedures. Methods Undergraduate medical students participating in a clinical skills study to compare UGVF and SIVF completed a Likert scale questionnaire detailing perceived anxiety. During the study, students were recorded performing three basic surgical skills (simple interrupted suturing, intravenous cannulation, urinary catheterisation). Feedback was then provided by one of two methods: (1) SIVF - participant video footage reviewed together with a tutor providing targeted feedback, and (2) UGVF - participant video footage reviewed alone with concurrent access to a generic pre-recorded 'expert tips' video clip for comparison. Each participant received SIVF and UGVF at least once. Results The majority of participants did not find either SIVF (81.7%) or UGVF (78.8%) stressful. Students had a strong preference for SIVF (77.5%) and disagreed that similar 'face-to-face' feedback had impaired learning in the past (80.3%). Conclusion Medical student-perceived anxiety is negligible when video feedback is employed during simulated core practical skill training.

Keywords: anxiety; clinical skills; face-to-face feedback; one-to-one feedback; reflection; reflective practice; self-assessment; stress; video feedback.