Abstract
Two matched groups of six psychiatric residents were taught an interviewing skills course consecutively at six month intervals. Testing of twelve residents in this cross over design was done at the zero, six and twelve month intervals. With one exception, no differences were found between the groups at any of the three test periods. The authors discuss the implications of this, noting the importance of: 1. maturational factors (all performances fell at 6 months and improved by 12 months), 2. foreign medical graduates (who improved the most), 3. residency selection (which picks medical graduates with high skill levels to begin with), 4. test selections (some tests are not sensitive enough to detect changes) and 5. subjective feedback (very approving). Since much time, money, and facilities are given to teaching interviewing skills, and little is given to researching the effectiveness of courses, further studies in this area are crucial.
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Junek, W., Leichner, P.P. & Harper, D. Teaching Interviewing Skills: A Comparison Study. Acad Psychiatry 9, 32–39 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03399943
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03399943