Recording medical students' encounters with standardized patients using Google Glass: providing end-of-life clinical education.

Problem Medical education today frequently includes standardized patient (SP) encounters to teach history-taking, physical exam, and communication skills. However, traditional wall-mounted cameras, used to record video for faculty and student feedback and evaluation, provide a limited view of key nonverbal communication behaviors during clinical encounters. Approach In 2013, 30 second-year medical students participated in an end-of-life module that included SP encounters in which the SPs used Google Glass to record their first-person perspective. Students reviewed the Google Glass video and traditional videos and then completed a postencounter, self-evaluation survey and a follow-up survey about the experience. Outcomes Google Glass was used successfully to record 30 student/SP encounters. One temporary Google Glass hardware failure was observed. Of the 30 students, 7 (23%) reported a positive, nondistracting experience; 11 (37%) a positive, initially distracting experience; 5 (17%) a neutral experience; and 3 (10%) a negative experience. Four students (13%) opted to withhold judgment until they reviewed the videos but reported Google Glass as distracting. According to follow-up survey responses, 16 students (of 23; 70%) found Google Glass worth including in the [clinical skills program], whereas 7 (30%) did not. Next Steps Google Glass can be used to video record students during SP encounters and provides a novel perspective for the analysis and evaluation of their interpersonal communication skills and nonverbal behaviors. Next steps include a larger, more rigorous comparison of Google Glass versus traditional videos and expanded use of this technology in other aspects of the clinical skills training program.