How Do Simulated Interviews Increase the Self-efficacy of Medical Students? - Quasi-experimental Research-

Background Self-efficacy is crucial in improving medical student communication skills. This study aims to clarify whether the self-efficacy of medical students conducting medical interviews increased after simulated interviews or after feedback discussions. Methods A total of 162 medical students (109 men, 53 women) in their fourth or fifth year at a university in Japan participated in this study. The degree of self-efficacy in medical interviewing was measured before and after a medical interview with a simulated patient, and after the subsequent feedback session. Results ANOVA analysis revealed that self-efficacy for medical interviews was higher after both the interview and the feedback session than before the interview. Self-efficacy was highest after the feedback session among all three time points. Conclusions Feedback following a simulated interview with a simulated patient is important to improve the self-efficacy of medical students learning medical interviewing skills.

Assessing the training needs of medical students in patient information gathering; a qualitative study

Background Effective communication is at the heart of good medical practice but rates of error, patient complaints, and poor clinician job satisfaction are suggestive of room for improvement in this component of medical practice and education. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews with experienced clinicians (n = 19) and medical students (n = 20) to explore their experiences associated with teaching and learning clinical communication skills and identify targets for improvements to addressing these skills in medical curricula. Results Interviews were thematically analysed and four key themes emerged; the importance of experience, the value of role-models, the structure of a consultation, and confidence. Conclusions The findings reinforce the need for improvement in teaching and learning communication skills in medicine, with particular opportunity to target approaches to teaching foundational skills which can establish a strong grounding before moving into more complex situations, thus preparing students for the flexibility required in medical interviewing. A second area of opportunity and need is in the engagement and training of clinicians as mentors and teachers, with the findings from both groups indicating that preparation for teaching and feedback is lacking. Medical programs can improve their teaching of communication skills and could learn from other fields s to identify applicable innovative approaches.

Assessing the training needs of medical students in patient information gathering; a qualitative study

Background Effective communication is at the heart of good medical practice but rates of error, patient complaints, and poor clinician job satisfaction are suggestive of room for improvement in this component of medical practice and education. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews with experienced clinicians (n = 19) and medical students (n = 20) to explore their experiences associated with teaching and learning clinical communication skills and identify targets for improvements to addressing these skills in medical curricula. Results Interviews were thematically analysed and four key themes emerged; the importance of experience, the value of role-models, the structure of a consultation, and confidence. Conclusions The findings reinforce the need for improvement in teaching and learning communication skills in medicine, with particular opportunity to target approaches to teaching foundational skills which can establish a strong grounding before moving into more complex situations, thus preparing students for the flexibility required in medical interviewing. A second area of opportunity and need is in the engagement and training of clinicians as mentors and teachers, with the findings from both groups indicating that preparation for teaching and feedback is lacking. Medical programs can improve their teaching of communication skills and could learn from other fields s to identify applicable innovative approaches.

Assessing the training needs of medical students in patient information gathering; a qualitative study

Background Effective communication is at the heart of good medical practice but rates of error, patient complaints, and poor clinician job satisfaction are suggestive of room for improvement in this component of medical practice and education. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews with experienced clinicians (n = 19) and medical students (n = 20) to explore their experiences associated with teaching and learning clinical communication skills and identify targets for improvements to addressing these skills in medical curricula. Results Interviews were thematically analysed and four key themes emerged; the importance of experience, the value of role-models, the structure of a consultation, and confidence. Conclusions The findings reinforce the need for improvement in teaching and learning communication skills in medicine, with particular opportunity to target approaches to teaching foundational skills which can establish a strong grounding before moving into more complex situations, thus preparing students for the flexibility required in medical interviewing. A second area of opportunity and need is in the engagement and training of clinicians as mentors and teachers, with the findings from both groups indicating that preparation for teaching and feedback is lacking. Medical programs can improve their teaching of communication skills and could learn from other fields s to identify applicable innovative approaches.

Teaching a Clinical Method Adapted to Contemporary Medicine

A truly person-centered curriculum requires important changes to how the clinical method is taught. Medical interviewing demands explicit instruction in how the spoken language works and specific strategies that elevate the status of attentive listening so that this aspect is seen as important as the more mechanical aspects of traditional communication skills training. The term chief complaint is declared outdated and suggestions for its replacement are offered. The medical record is considered an important educational instrument, and recommendations are made so that it is in service of functional assessment and better aligned to a person-centered approach. Modifications to the physical examination, particularly a renewed emphasis on clinical observation, are outlined. The chapter concludes with a discussion of clinical thinking and judgment. A plea is made for inculcating a receptiveness toward a narrative competence within medicine.

A Curricular Addition Using Art to Enhance Reflection on Professional Values

ABSTRACT Background: Art and humanities can enhance undergraduate medical education curricular objectives. Most commonly, art is used to help students learn observational skills, such as medical interviewing and physical diagnosis. Educators concurrently struggle to find ways to meaningfully teach professional values within crowded curricula. Aim: This curriculum aimed to combine art and reflection to actively convey tenets of medical professionalism. Setting: Internal medicine clerkship at a single institution. Participants: Third-year students. Program description: Students reviewed an online module describing attributes of medical professionalism before completing a 4-step written exercise stimulated by viewing a work of art and based on a critical incident from their own experiences. A faculty member reviewed the essays and facilitated small group discussion to normalize the students' emotional responses and generalize their observations to others. Program evaluation: The curriculum was acceptable to students and enthusiastically received by faculty. Efforts to assess the effects and durability of the exercise on student behavior are ongoing. Discussion: Artwork can enhance student reflection on professional values. This model efficiently and creatively meets curricular professionalism objectives.

Interviewing in the Medical Context: Questions, Answers, Assessments – An Interdisciplinary Approach

There has been a large amount of research done on doctor-patient encounters analysing the linguistic and discursive peculiarities occurring in these interactions. Though many relevant features of medical interviewing are well-known to the scientific public, there are still areas for further investigation. One of these areas is the sequential organisation of the dialogues between patients and doctors. This paper aims to show the pragmatic means that contribute to the efficacy of doctor-patient talk. As a method, the contribution applies the Sociocognitive Approach to Critical Discourse Analysis. The sequential organisation of therapeutic dialogues involves the use of particular speech acts (questions, answers, assessments) that are characteristic of the comforting and confirming procedures of the therapist. The paper intends to analyse the parts of the therapeutic interview (initiation, exploration and termination) to show patient-centredness in interviewing and the sequential organisation of empathy and confirmation with the help of an interview transcript between a doctor and patient after a renal transplant.