Diagnostic Scope

The VA-MeCo is a video-based Situational Judgement Test which assesses basic medical communication competence of medical students.

Procedure

The VA-MeCo comprises 11 test tasks, each with 3 - 5 answer options, in which the situational communication behaviour of the physicians presented is assessed at the dimensions of advancing content, structuring and establishing a good working relationship.

Background and Construction

The VA-MeCo is based on established standards of physician-patient communication (Calgary-Cambridge Guide, CanMeds Framework), and their implementation in the German National Competence-Based Catalogue of Learning Objectives (NKLM), as well as on a model of professional communication (Munich Model of Professional Conversation Competence).

Empirical Examination and Criteria

Reliability: The VA-MeCo is highly reliable (McDonald's Ω = .94 for the overall scale and for the three dimensions: ΩContent = .82, ΩStructure = .88 and ΩRelationship = .88).
Validity: The three dimensions were confirmed in a confirmatory factor analysis. Regarding construct validity, we could confirm a pattern of correlations with the constructs of patient orientation, empathy, prior knowledge/experience, intelligence, social competence as well as with the Big Five personality variables, which are mostly in line with expected associations.
Norms: A first proposal for a test norm derived from a sample with N = 395 medical students is available for usage.

Test Concept

Theoretical Background

see "Abstract"

First published in

Reiser, S., Schacht, L., Thomm, E., Figalist, C., Janssen, L., Schick, K., Dörfler, E., Berberat, P. O., Gartmeier, M. & Bauer, J. (2021). A video-based situational judgment test for medical student's communication competence in patient encounters: Development and first evaluation. Patient Education and Counseling, 105(5), 1283-1289.

Downloads

• VA-MeCo Task 1 (German) [WEBM]
• VA-MeCo Task 2 (German) [WEBM]
• VA-MeCo Task 3 (German) [WEBM]
• VA-MeCo Task 4 (German) [WEBM]
• VA-MeCo Task 5 (German) [WEBM]
• VA-MeCo Task 6 (German) [WEBM]
• VA-MeCo Task 7 (German) [WEBM]
• VA-MeCo Task 8 (German) [WEBM]
• VA-MeCo Task 10 (German) [WEBM]
• VA-MeCo Task 12 (German) [WEBM]
• VA-MeCo Task 14 (German) [WEBM]
• VA-MeCo instruction and items (German) [PDF]
• VA-MeCo test interpretation (German) [PDF]
• VA-MeCo SPSS syntax [PDF]
• VA-MeCo example item (German) [PDF]

Feedback form

Feedback on the use of a procedure from the Open Test Archive of the Leibniz Institute for Psychology (ZPID) to the test author(s)