Using a Situational Judgement Test to Develop Professionalism and Interpersonal Skills Among Medical Residents

Abstract

Prior research indicates that Situational Judgment Tests (SJTs) are valid selection assessments for many types of roles, especially in the medical domain. However, little research exists on the effectiveness of SJTs in a developmental context. This study investigates whether an SJT-based training intervention can improve the professionalism and interpersonal skills of medical residents. A true experimental design was used to test this theory; residency programs were randomly assigned to the experimental and control conditions. Residents in programs assigned to the experimental condition received the training over a three-month period while residents in the control group received no training. The training intervention included completing a 45-minute online SJT, receiving a detailed developmental report, participating in a one-hour group debriefing session, and completing a goal-setting handout. Overall results suggest that the training intervention did not significantly improve residents’ performance from time 1 to time 2 compared to participants in the control condition. Nevertheless, stakeholders’ and participants’ reactions to the training were largely positive. More research is needed to determine if SJTs are viable developmental tools.