Physicians report a number of barriers to obesity counseling, among them low perceived competence in the ability to counsel. While there is increasing recognition of the need for resident training on counseling, implementation requires residency programs to have the necessary curricula and tools to evaluate training effectiveness. This study's…

A multistation clinical examination using standardized patients was used over 4 years to assess the interpersonal skills of 346 fourth year medical students, 51 internal medicine residents, and 71 foreign medical graduates seeking admission to graduate study. Results indicate that a reliable assessment of interpersonal skills can be achieved this…

Reported on the development of a behavior rating scale for doctor-patient interactions. Results revealed that raters can reliably and accurately discriminate between medical and personal aspects of both speech and touch using written transcripts and audiovisual tapes of doctor-patient interactions. (JAC)

States that the purpose of two studies was to develop an instrument to measure patients' perceived communication apprehension in patient/physician interactions. Describes how, in the first study, the five-item Patients' Report of Communication Apprehension with Physicians (PRCAP) was developed. Examines the validity of the new test instrument.…

Changes in beginning medical students' preferred interview responses appear attributable to a course that emphasizes communication techniques for developing patient rapport. Results indicated significant increases in students' preferences for understanding responses and decreases in preferences for evaluative responses. Changes were in the desired…

Written tests do not project clinical optometric competence very well at present. However, the basic skills and knowledge necessary for competence can be measured, even if diagnostic and treatment skills cannot by current means. (MSE)

A study was conducted to test the criterion validity of a set of written patient management problems (PMPs) through a comparison of pharmacist performance on the PMPs and performance in the practice setting. The PMPs were replicated in the practice setting by actors. Inconsistencies between PMP performance and practice performance were noted.…

Development of a behavioral test of surgeons' interpersonal skills involved applying a rating scale to videotape recordings of physician interactions with a gall bladder patient, at three intervals. Quality of communication was found to vary over the intervals. The instrument used was more sensitive to variation than a comparison scale.…

Paracognitive evaluation of medical training recognizes the linkage between training and specific maturational trends. After administering the Paracognitive Evaluation Form to assess medical students' performance in seminars and clinical teaching situations, hierarchical cluster analysis suggested that maturational trends were measured and that…

Factor analysis was used to determine whether computerized patient management problems had the same factor structure as multiple choice examinations and rating scales. It was determined that the factor structure was similar to the examinations but not the rating scale. (JKS)

Use of the Helping Relationship Inventory (HRI) to assess the impact of an introductory medical interviewing course on beginning medical students' preference for interview response modes was studied at the University of Minnesota. The HRI, a brief paper-and-pencil instrument, was administered as a pre-test and post-test for five consecutive years…