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Psychological tests to measure the effects of medical education on students’ interpersonal skills
Author(s) -
EVANS B. J.,
STANLEY R. O.,
COMAN G. J.,
BURROWS G. D.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
medical education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.776
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1365-2923
pISSN - 0308-0110
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2923.1989.tb01574.x
Subject(s) - psychology , interpersonal communication , measure (data warehouse) , interpersonal relationship , social skills , medical education , educational measurement , clinical psychology , social psychology , applied psychology , medicine , pedagogy , developmental psychology , curriculum , computer science , database
Summary. The consulting skills required of medical students and practitioners have been categorized into a number of specific skills, two of which are: students’ ability to empathize with the patient; and ability to decode non‐verbal cues given by the patient in the interview. Training programmes to improve students’ consulting skills are usually evaluated using analysis of students’ actual interview behaviours with patients. Broad psychological and personality tests have also been used to measure changes in students’ interviewing skills, but have generally not been successful. The hypothesis is advanced that more specific tests of the skills of interviewing, such as non‐verbal sensitivity and empathy, would detect changes in students’ ability to display these skills. As part evaluation of a consulting skills training programme, clinical students completed psychological tests of empathy and non‐verbal sensitivity. Subsequent comparisons between trained and control student groups revealed no clear pattern in test results. These data suggest that specific psychological tests of empathy and non‐verbal sensitivity may be no more effective in detecting changes in students’ interpersonal skills than global personality measures.