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PURPOSE Although there have been studies emphasizing the re-education of North Korean (NK) doctors for post-unification of the Korean Peninsula, study on the content and scope of such re-education has yet to be conducted. Researchers intended to set the content and scope of re-education by a comparative analysis for the scores of the preliminary examination, which is comparable to the Korean Medical Licensing Examination (KMLE). METHODS The scores of the first and second preliminary exams were analyzed by subject using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. The passing status of the group of NK doctors for KMLE in recent 3 years were investigated. The multiple-choice-question (MCQ) items of which difficulty indexes of NK doctors were lower than those of South Korean (SK) medical students by two times of the standard deviation of the scores of SK medical students were selected to investigate the relevant reasons. RESULTS The average scores of nearly all subjects were improved in the second exam compared with the first exam. The passing rate of the group of NK doctors was 75%. The number of MCQ items of which difficulty indexes of NK doctors were lower than those of SK medical students was 51 (6.38%). NK doctors' lack of understandings for Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures, Therapeutics, Prenatal Care, and Managed Care Programs was suggested as the possible reason. CONCLUSION The education of integrated courses focusing on Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures and Therapeutics, and apprenticeship-style training for clinical practice of core subjects are needed. Special lectures on the Preventive Medicine are likely to be required also.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the changing pattern of communication skills of medical students according to length and methods of training. Methods: We evaluated a 1-week communications training course in 2003, a 1-year course in 2004, and a 1-semester course in 2005 during development of our curriculum. We have conducted the 10-minute CPX on abdominal pain annually since 2002 to assess the clinical performance of medical students who have completed the 3rd year clerkship. We selected CPX videos that were appropriate for assessment. One hundred sixty-four videos were available (1-week didactics: 42 cases, 1-week training: 28 cases, 1-semester training: 50 cases, 1-year training: 44 cases). We developed a 10-item global rating checklist to assess communication skills. A 5-point Likert scale was used to evaluate each item (4-very likely, 0-least likely). Two expert standardized patient (SP) raters evaluated the communication skills of students independently. We analyzed the outcomes based on the training length and methods. The reliability (G coefficient) was 0.825 with 2 SPs and 1 station. Results: The communication skills of students improved with practice and longer training, especially with regard to opening the interview, expressing empathy, understanding the patient's perspective, and preparing for the physical examination. Rapport-building, organization of the interview, understandable explanation, nonverbal communication, active listening and consideration during the physical examination was unchanged between durations of training. The scores for empathetic expression, active listening and understanding the patient's perspective were low across all groups. Conclusion: We should concentrate our efforts to improve students' skills in empathetic expression, active listening and understanding the patient's perspective.

Purpose: Selecting medical students through interviews seems difficult and the reliability of the results is one of the major concerns. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability and acceptability of the Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI) in selecting medical students of Kangwon National University. Methods: Eighty-four applicants participated in the MMI which consists of 3 8-minute stations that have 9 checklist items and 3 global items. The 3 domains that we chose were motivation to become a doctor, communication and interpersonal skills, and ethical decision-making. We placed 2 interviewers in each room. The interviewers were chosen from our faculty. We analyzed the reliability of the MMI with urGENOVA for PC. We conducted a survey of these applicants and interviewers. Results: The reliability was 0.791. Students answered that the interview was impressive and enjoyable. Students were also satisfied with the level and quality of the MMI cases. They described that they were evaluated objectively. Interviewers also responded positively. They stated that more stations and more efforts to develop the cases were needed to improve the reliability and validity. Conclusion: The MMI was acceptable to our applicants and faculty. It is reliable for assessing medical school applicants in Korea. We should develop more stations and better cases to increase the reliability and validity of the MMI.