Development of interviewing skills in a problem-based medical curriculum

The importance of good communication skills in physicians, and their contribution to improved patient outcomes, are well documented. Problem-based learning (PBL) curricula may provide an excellent environment for improving these skills, since students interact extensively in small groups. This study compared interviewing skills in a sample of first year PBL students to those of an earlier conventional class. Specifically, it examined the effect of about 225 hours of small group tutorial work for PBL students not found in a conventional curriculum Relationships between students' interviewing skills and personality type also were examined. Participants included 22 students in a conventional curriculum, and 39 students in a new PBL curriculum. Both classes completed a 12-hour (four 3-hour sessions) introductory interviewing skills course early in first year. Students were videotaped conducting a 10-minute interview of a standardized patient early in the year (during the course) and near the end of the academic year. The performance of both groups was compared on the total score, and individual skill components, using the Arizona Clinical Interview Rating Scale.(1) Two trained interviewers rated the interviews. The PBL group performed significantly better than the conventional group, near the end of first year, on the skill components of 'use of minimal facilitators' and 'directing the interview'. However, the PBL group scored lower on 'periodic summarization'. The Myers-Briggs 'feeling' types performed better than 'thinking types' in 'use of silence' and 'directing the interview'. Extravert/feeling types performed better than introvert/thinking types in 'use of silence'.