Online medical interview training in preclinical medical education: Educational outcomes comparable to face-to-face training

Introduction: Conventionally, face-to-face education has been prevalent in medical education because it can help medical students learn interpersonal skills, including medical interviews and physical examination. However, because of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, face-to-face education was suspended to prevent the spread of the infection. As face-to-face classes in Japan were discontinued when the pandemic began in the spring of 2020, we developed an online education program to develop medical interview skills. We were interested in determining the educational outcomes between face-to-face and online medical interview classes. Therefore, we compared them before and after the pandemic. Methods: Fourth-year students of the University of Tokyo Medical School took medical interview classes. Under consent, the score of the medical interview area of the preclinical clerkship, Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), as a high-stakes examination, which falls at the top level of the Kirkpatrick’s model, was compared by year or before and after the pandemic. Results: The online group showed higher item-wise scores of the medical interview of the preclinical clerkship OSCE than the face-to-face group. In terms of the global score, no significant difference was observed. In the computer-based test (CBT), the online group had higher scores compared with the face-to-face group. Conclusion: The educational outcomes of online medical interview classes were not inferior to those of conventional face-to-face classes, as revealed by high-stakes examination preclinical clerkship OSCE. Similar to face-to-face education, online education is a viable option for developing interpersonal skills.