The impact of student learning styles on interviewing skills and academic performance

Background: Many U.S. medical schools struggle to identify how to teach students the content and skills needed to communicate effectively with patients. Some schools have developed predoctoral curricula emphasizing both biomedical and psychosocial dimensions of patient care. It is important to identify whether this approach has a measurable impact on doctor-patient communication. Purpose: This study examined the impact of learning styles on 200 1st-year medical students' academic performance and interviewing skills. Methods: Analysis of variance were conducted comparing academic performance and interviewing skills across 4 learning styles in Kolb's Learning Style Inventory. Results: Findings revealed statistically significant differences in academic performance (p < .05) and interviewing skills (p < .05) by students' learning styles. Conclusions: Students possess different learning styles that influence their success in medical school. Educators can vary their teaching methods to ensure that students, regardless of learning style, perform optimally in every aspect of patient care.